The Pawn on e5 Is Mine

Verse 1

Pawn to e4, knight to f3 e4 e5 Nf3

Pawn to d4 by the grey blue sea Nc6 d4

I take on d4, his knight to f6 exd4 Nxd4 Nf6

My half-open d-file, wide and free

Chorus

Knight takes c6, he takes back Nxc6 bxc6

Pawn to e5, his knight must flee e5

His doubled pawns on the c-file

My pawn on e5 is the key

Verse 2

His queen to e7, mine to e2 Qe7 Qe2

Pawn to c4, I chase his knight Nd5 c4

Knight to d2, pawn to b3 Nb6 Nd2 Qe6 b3

Bishop to b2, I hold e5 tight a5 Bb2

He strikes with d6 or f6

Let e5 fall and the dream takes flight

Chorus

Knight takes c6, he takes back Nxc6 bxc6

Pawn to e5, his knight must flee e5

His doubled pawns on the c-file

My pawn on e5 is the key

Bridge

The engine calls it even ground

His c-pawns doubled, broken down

The queens come off before the fall

My kingside majority stands tall

Chorus

Knight takes c6, he takes back Nxc6 bxc6

Pawn to e5, his knight must flee e5

His doubled pawns on the c-file

My pawn on e5 is the key

Outro

Pawn to e5, I hold the line e5

My pawn on e5, forever mine

The song follows one White plan. After 6.e5 Black usually plays 6...Qe7, and White answers with 7.Qe2. Then White plays c4, b3 and Bb2 to support the e5 pawn against Black's two pawn breaks, ...d6 and ...f6. The engine rates the line as about level.

Measured over 100 master games, this variation is clearly sharper than most openings. It is also among the most likely to reach an early endgame: the queens are gone by move 20 in a large share of games. That's why the bridge sings about the queens coming off early, with Black's doubled c-pawns and White's kingside pawn majority as what the endgame is fought over.