Kenilworth Kibitzer

This got me to thinking - is there a skill level at which mainline openings are truly needed, and is any of us likely to reach it?  Our own NM Mark Kernighan plays sensible openings but will play second- or third-best variations for the sake of variety or to avoid book opening traps, knowing that the middlegame is his proprietary venue.  Class A players I have played seem to have made up their own openings out of whole cloth - perhaps they are dubious, but how to prove it in a quick game?  How many moves have I memorized that are just the latest refinement in a long series of refinements on an opening when what actually determines the winner of my games is being the person who doesn't drop a piece?  

So play your Grob's, your Fried Liver attack and your Cochrane Gambit.  In a game between us amateurs, the road is wide indeed, and the view occasionally breathtaking.