Originally posted by Darth Sponge
I've read that beginners should begin learning chess by playing the the Italian Game, and then progress to the Ruy Lopez at some point and study it for life... at any rate, I want to focus on learning the Ruy and trying to gather opinions as to the best way of going about it. there are so many variations. should i learn each one at a time or the overall themes and tactics arising from positions? any suggestions are appreciated.
I think the best way would be to learn the variations separately, as they all have different themes. For example, the Steinitz Defence is safe but cramps Black, the Open Morphy leads to tactical play where as the Closed Morphy leads to positional play. In the Ruy Lopez even one move makes all the difference as to the type of game that will result. Learn the basic themes first, the best way to learn the basic themes of the Ruy Lopez is supposed to be by playing the Italian Game and familiarising yourself with the c3 d4 e4 pawn structure etc.
The term Spanish Game is very broad and I feel that the various options after 3.Bb5 are really like separate openings. For example, 3...Bc5, the Cordel Defence (a favourite of Fischer's) leads to a very different game from 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7, the Closed Morphy Defence. Not to mention the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation 3...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6, what is known as an "endgame opening", if that isn't a contradictory term.
In all the Ruy Lopez is a huge system that will take a long time to learn and use effectively, but the rewards of using it properly are worth it.