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Step 1
1. e4. The first step is for White to play 1. e4. This is the perhaps the most popular opening move for White among beginners and experts alike. It immediately attacks d5, one of the important central squares, and clears the way for the queen and light squared bishop to come out later. More advanced players might prefer to open with 1. d4 which leads to "closed" games that require more experience on the part of the player.
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Step 2
1...e5. The first move for Black is to respond with 1...e5. Other than 1...c5 (the Sicilian Defense) which may be preferred by more advanced players, 1...e5 is the most common response for Black for the same reasons why 1. e4 is valuable for white.
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Step 3
2. Nf3. This is by far the most popular second move for White after 1. e4 e5. It attacks the Black pawn, and places the knight on its optimal early game square. It also brings White that much closer to being able to castle kingside.
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Step 4
2....Nc6. This is the most common reply for Black in this situation. Black protects his/her pawn, and at the same time moves the Knight to a good early game outpost.
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Step 5
3. Bb5. This is the most common reply for White in this situation, and the final move in the Ruy Lopez opening. White creates many issues for Black. If Black's d pawn is advanced, the knight at c6 will be pinned since it will be blocking check. If the knight moves away, then the d pawn is pinned for the same reason. If Black makes an unrelated move such as 3...Nf6, White can then capture BxN, which will result in doubled pawns for Black after recapturing, which is troublesome for all players, let alone beginners.
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Step 6
To recap, the moves in the Ruy Lopez opening are 1. e4 e5. 2. Nf3 Nc6. 3. Bb5. By far the most common response for Black at this point is to play 3...a6, attempting to shoo away the bishop, thereby forcing White to lose time in the process.
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Step 7
White will usually then play 4. Ba4 to run to safety, but as mentioned, White can also choose to trade his/her bishop for the knight, forcing Black into a doubled pawn situation.
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Step 8
The most common move for Black at that point is 4...Nf6, continuing on with his/her own development, to which White will usually respond by castling kingside (O-O).
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Step 9
Many beginners, however, get a kick out of continuing to harass the aggressive bishop by playing 4...b5. This is usually not to Black's advantage. White responds with 5. Bb3, and Black's pawn structure has been rather disrupted. Statistically from that position, White will win about 57% of the time and will tie about 20% of the time. Much better is for Black to play as described in Step 8 which greatly decreases White's win chances and increases Black's chances of forcing a draw.
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Step 10
Keep practicing the moves of the Ruy Lopez, and make sure that you understand the basic idea behind each step. Entire books have been written about just that opening and all of the variants that it leads to, so that would be the next course of study. Also consider practicing by setting up a computer chess program to start a game from that position, and practice playing both as White and Black. Have fun! ☺
