Baltic Defense


The Baltic Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves
This defense is an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Since Black usually struggles to develop his queen bishop in most responses to the QGD, this opening takes a radical approach by developing the queen bishop immediately.
The Baltic has not found widespread acceptance among chess masters, but some world-class players have employed it, including grandmasters Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov.
The ECO code for the Baltic Defense is D06.

White's responses

Following...Bf5, White has a number of potential responses, including:

3.cxd5 (Main line)

3.Nf3 e6

3.Nc3