Baltic_Defense
Baltic Defense
Chess opening
The Baltic Defense (also known as the Grau Defense, or the Sahovic Defense) is a chess opening characterized by the moves:
The Baltic is an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD). In most defenses to the QGD, Black has difficulties developing her queen bishop. This opening takes a radical approach to the problem by bringing out the queen bishop immediately.
The Baltic has not found widespread acceptance among chess masters, but some world-class players have used it including grandmasters Paul Keres and Alexei Shirov.
The ECO code for the Baltic Defense is D06.