Baird reached the main draw of a ranking event for the first time in 2012 by coming through four qualifying matches, concluding with a 4–2 win over Dominic Dale, to make the 2012 Welsh Open.

[6] Baird produced his best snooker towards the end of the 2012/2013 season as he beat Luca Brecel and Martin Gould to reach the main draw of the Welsh Open for the second successive year.

[9] In qualifying for the World Championship, Baird defeated Chen Zhe 10–7, Peter Lines 10–9 and Rory McLeod 10–9 to find himself just one match away from playing in the biggest tournament on the snooker calendar.

At the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup he won through to the quarter-finals where he lost 4–1 to Ben Woollaston and he went one better at the Gdynia Open, losing 4–1 against Fergal O'Brien in the semifinals.

[14] Baird's only win in a full ranking event match this season came at the Welsh Open by beating Robbie Williams 4–2 before being defeated 4–3 by reigning champion, Stephen Maguire, having led 3–1.

[18] Baird gained some revenge over Holt by beating him to qualify for the International Championship and then saw off Kyren Wilson 6–2 and Mark Davis 6–5 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the second time in his career.

[18] A poor start to the season was halted when Baird overcame Rory McLeod, Zhang Anda and Chris Melling all without dropping a frame at the Bulgarian Open, and then beat Jimmy Robertson 4–3 and Judd Trump 4–1 to make the semi-finals of an event for the second time.

[22] Baird qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship for the second time, and first for three years, courtesy of wins over Thor Chuan Leong, Tom Ford, and Liam Highfield.