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 available to the modern chess-player. The play in many lines is very thematic, requiring understanding of the typical ideas more than concrete knowledge. It is sound and solid, yet gives good winning chances for White. On the other hand, 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.

This opening has been played by many top players over the years (Lasker, Fischer, Timman, Shirov...). In recent times it has scored well for White in the hands of specialists such as Rozentalis and Glek. In 2004 it was used by the new FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov to defeat super-grandmasters Adams and Grischuk on his way to the title.

Grandmaster Stefan Kindermann, who plays the Spanish Exchange himself, provides clear explanations as well as analysis of carefully selected examples, and he reveals many new ideas and fresh assessments. Although this is a repertoire book for White, the author's treatment is objective, and a special chapter is devoted to what he considers to be Black's best choice against this formidable weapon.