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The Baltic Defense is the chess opening that begins with the moves

1.d4 d5

2.c4 Bf5

(The Baltic Opening is a different opening played by White that begins 1.Nc3. It has many other names, see Baltic Opening for details.)

The Baltic is an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD). It has not found wide-spread acceptance among chess masters, but some world-class players have used it including grandmasters Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov.

In most defenses to the QGD Black has difficulties developing his queen bishop. The Baltic takes a radical approach to the problem by bringing out the queen bishop immediately. White has tried many moves to attempt to refute this opening, including 3.Qb3, 3.Nc3, 3.cxd5, 3.e3, and 3.Nf3.

References

• Nunn, John (ed.), et al. (1999). Nunn's Chess Openings, Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.