Blogs

Fun with the Baltic

Shivsky
| 4

I've been shopping around for a sharp (and slightly insane) opening response to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 (and friends) for quite a while. I decided to have a little fun with the Baltic defense against a similar rated (USCF 1700ish) player. Quite rare and definitely sound-er than the Englund, Albin and Budapest (IMHO), I expected a modest amount of fireworks, but not quite the hand grenade that rolled onto the middle of the board. 

Critical mistakes on my part later on could have turned things around for White with best play, but hey, in a OTB event, nerves matter and I think the attacker tends to have the benefit of doubt in these tricky situations. 

All in all, a very playable system. Enjoy!