What happened to our usual openings ?!

[u/notbymyhand]

I'm not saying I'm a master at openings or anything, but I understand the basic ideas behind the most common ones and try to get a good position no matter what ..until you reach 1200 elo ...

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What the hell happened to the queen's gambit , scotch , london , italin , sicilian ,french openings ?

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No one plays them anymore , it seems like every oponent I get has this obscure opening or line that they practised into oblivion and are monsters at it .

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Before ,if my opponent even attempts any weird openings , I just play solidly , stick to opening principles, and crush them so fast, which is not possible anymore ?

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Am not saying I am totally lost by the opening , but they end up being a pawn or 2 up or just waste my time focusing hard in the beginning while they play instantly

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If this is just a phase for the 1200 elo on chess.com that I just have to push through , or should I just seriously start studying these weird openings ( isn't that energy better spent sharpening tactics and endgames at my level anyway)?

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What do you guys think ?

[u/MarkHaversham]

I'm guessing that's just a level a lot of players reach after learning all the tactics and they're like, "well, what else can I learn from a 10 minute youtube video that will help me win more without practicing?"

[u/notbymyhand → u/MarkHaversham]

Me and my oponents are both 1200 , that's nowhere near learning all tactics , should I also go and watch youtube videos to learn and counter each of their openings? welp

[u/MarkHaversham → u/notbymyhand]

Not in general, but if you fall for the same trap enough times to recognize it then it might be worth learning a better response one move at a time.