opening books

Originally posted by wittywonka
I agree with almost everything you said, but I don't think you should wait until you're rated 2000+ to study openings. More like 1600+ in my opinion.

Yes.
This "don't study openings in any depth until you're 2000" is not correct in my opinion. At the very least a basic look at opening themes is going to benefit even a beginner.
Intermediates definately need to look quite closely at openings as most if not the vast majority already have repertoires, so why not try to understand the key moves & reasoning behind, for instance the King's gambit?

1) Many many people may play their entire lives & never reach anything like elo 2000 having never studied opening lines!
2) Many openings have tactical themes & motifs that are crucial to basic development.
3) Choosing openings such as 1.e4 or 1.e4...e5 or gambit openings exposes the novice to positions where tactics are going to be commonplace & strategy generally takes second place. Tactics are the key to winning games for 99% of us, so why not create postions where tactics are likely via the choice of opening?
4) Some openings contain traps (for both sides) which may not be obvious to the player who just plays on basic principles. You may not study openings as a beginner/intermediate, but that doesn't stop your opponent from doing so.

I'm sure there are many other reasons why novices should spend some time looking at openings & choosing a basic repertoire.

I would say though that tactics/basic mates/endgame study/basic strategy should definately take priority over opening theory.