Does Chrome have anything similar to the search keywords in Opera?

Solution 1:

Options - Basics - Default search - Manage. This opens a dialog box that allows you to set keywords for each of your search providers. For example, I use "g" for Google, "y" for YouTube, and "z" for Amazon.

These are the same search providers that do the "Pres TAB to search..." function. As you browse the web, Chrome adds websites with search boxes here so you can use them from the address bar. You can use them either by pressing tab, or by setting up keywords.

Solution 2:

If you've used the search on a site before, you can press tab while typing the name of the site to perform that site's search. For example, I can type

wTABopera

to seach on Wikipedia for Opera. However, this leads to having to type enough of the site name to switch sites, like

wiktTABopera

to search for opera on Wiktionary. I haven't figured out if this can be configured or not yet to accept a user defined keyword. It is possible to change them using the method described by Stephen Jennings - just go to Options/Basic/Default Search/Manage.

I feel your pain; I used Opera extensively before switching to Chrome on my laptop because it's hard to perform gestures.