The Spanish Exchange Variation lets you play one of the major chess openings, the Ruy Lopez, without the risk of drowning in the huge flow of information now available to the modern chess-player. White's play in this opening is often very thematic, thus an understanding of the typical positions is more important than concrete knowledge of variations. It is a sound and solid opening, yet gives good winning chances for White. In contrast, it can be hard for Black to win without taking considerable risks. If Black survives the middlegame, there is often an unpleasant endgame lying in wait.