Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of agreements and understandings assigned to calls and sequences of calls used by a partnership, and includes a full description of the meaning of each treatment and convention. The purpose of bid ...
s that incorporate a strong 2 clubs opening bid include modern
Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'Go ...
, standard
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
,
2/1 game forcing and many others.
In most natural bridge bidding systems, the opening bid of 2 is used exclusively for hands too strong for an opening bid at the one-level. Typically, the bid is reserved for hands that are almost strong enough to bid to the game level on their own power, or even stronger. The exact requirements for the bid vary considerably depending upon the system used and partnership agreement.
In most early bidding systems, opening bids of two of a suit signified a very strong hand and were referred to as
strong two bid
In contract bridge, a strong two-bid (also known as a forcing two-bidFrancis et al (2001), p. 443.Francis et al (2001), p. 163. The strong two-bid was the cornerstone of the Culbertson system.) is an opening bid of two in a suit, i.e. 2, 2, 2 or ...
s. However, pioneer bridge inventors like
Pierre Albarran
Pierre Albarran (18 May 1893 – 24 February 1960) was a French auction and contract bridge player and theorist, and a tennis player. It has been reported that he was born in the West Indies, and also in Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He d ...
and
David Burnstine
David Burnstine (May 5 1900 – August 26, 1965) was a leading tournament contract bridge player of the 1930s. He changed his name to David Bruce after he retired from competition in 1939.
Burnstine was born in New York City and regularly played ...
saw that the frequency of such bids is fairly low, and that a 2 bid can be used for all strong hands, leaving other two-level opening bids for other purposes (for example,
weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
s).
Bid requirements
The strength requirements for the 2 bid differ slightly in different systems. In all cases they show a hand which is close to game forcing. For balanced hands, a 2 bid shows 22 or more points in
Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'Go ...
(Yellow Card), and 23 or more points in standard
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
. For unbalanced hands, the typical strength is about 9 or more
playing tricks, or 3 losers or less if using
Losing-Trick Count
In the card game contract bridge, the Losing-Trick Count (LTC) is a method of hand evaluation that is generally only considered suitable to be used in situations where a trump suit has been established and when shape and fit are more significant th ...
.
Responses
Natural responses
With "natural" responses, which is the most commonly used treatment, the 2 bid is artificial and very weak (up to 6
HCP). All other bids are natural and positive.
Waiting and positive 2
Some players alter or reverse the order of natural responses in order to preserve bidding space and allow for more accuracy in later bidding. There are several treatments in circulation:
* Waiting 2 – a response of 2 is a relay asking the opening bidder to further describe the strong hand. This bid does not limit the responder's hand in any way. Some players combine this response with each of the following.
** Natural 2 and 2, typically showing at least a game-going hand (4 or more HCP) with at least a five-card major. Some players go as far to require a 6-card suit with 2 top honors for a suit response.
** Weak 2. The response of 2 shows a very bad hand (0-3 HCP), making the 2 relay a game-forcing bid.
* Positive 2 – a response of 2 shows values, and all other bids show less than 7 HCP.
* Positive 2 – a response of 2 show a (semi-)positive, and 2 a negative (0-4 HCP)
"Three Point Step" responses
"Three Point Step" responses to a strong 2 opening bid is another option. In this simple convention, the responder specifies the high card strength of his or her hand, without regard to distribution, as follows.
*2 = 0-3 High Card Points (HCP); Very Weak. The responder normally will bid again only to show a long suit (5 or more cards) or a trump fit, but should use "Garbage Stayman" or "Garbage Transfers" if appropriate whenever opener's rebid is 2NT. The opening bidder obviously needs more than minimum values (at least 25 HCP) or a good trump fit to go to game.
*2 = 4-6 HCP; Alertable and Game Forcing. Subsequent bids are natural, seeking a trump fit, typically with "systems on" (Stayman and transfers in effect) if opener rebids 2NT showing a balanced hand.
*2 = 7-9 HCP; Alertable and Slam Inviting. Subsequent bids are natural, seeking a trump fit, typically with "systems on" (Stayman and transfers in effect) if opener rebids 2NT showing a balanced hand. Opener must have extra values (at least 25 HCP) or a good trump fit to go to slam.
*2NT = 10 or more HCP; Alertable and Slam Forcing. Subsequent bids are natural, seeking a trump fit, typically with "systems on" (Stayman and transfers in effect) if opener rebids 3NT showing a balanced hand.
*Over interference, a Double (alertable) by responder shows a stolen bid (that is, takes on the same meaning as the interfering bid) and a Pass shows any inferior response. This treatment results in loss of granularity only if the interfering bid is 2 or higher.
If requested, the explanation of an alert should describe the meaning of the bid completely; for example:
*"My partner's response of 2 shows 4-6 HCP. It says nothing whatsoever about distribution, and in particular neither shows nor denies hearts."
or
*"My partner's double of 2 shows 7-9 HCP. It says nothing whatsoever about distribution, and in particular neither shows nor denies spades."
This convention for response has two significant advantages and two relatively minor disadvantages over other responses. The first advantage is that the 2 "Drop dead!" response alerts the opening bidder to partner's weakness immediately, while there's plenty of room to find a safe landing spot, when partner's hand is too weak to go on to game—which happens quite often in actual play. The second major advantage is that it immediately tells the opening bidder the combined high card strength of the two hands to within one HCP, and thus the most probable optimal level to which to bid (with the caveat that one sometimes can go a level higher with a good trump fit). The first drawback is that the weaker hand occasionally will end up declaring a contract with a trump fit in the major suit of the response. (Note that a transfer following opener's rebid of 2NT over a response of either 2 or 2 may be to the suit of the response. Such transfers cannot achieve the objective of making the strong hand the declarer, but they still help to find such a trump fit.) The second drawback is that it uses up some bidding space if the responder has an unusually strong hand. Nonetheless, opener's minimum of 22 HCP leaves a maximum of 18 HCP distributed among the other three hands. It's quite rare for responder to hold more than half of them. Indeed, this convention has gained popularity both for its simplicity (comparable to standard Blackwood) and for the infrequent occurrence and relatively minor consequences of its drawbacks.
The origin of this convention is uncertain. Some players have attributed it to
Oswald Jacoby
Oswald "Ozzie", "Jake" Jacoby (December 8, 1902 – June 27, 1984) was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time and a key innovator in the game, having helped popularize widely used bi ...
, of
Jacoby Transfer
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the just above that bid by r ...
and
Jacoby 2NT
Jacoby 2NT (Swedish: ''Stenberg 2NT'') is a bridge convention in which a bid of 2NT over partner's opening bid of one heart (1) or one spade (1) shows a hand with both
* opening strength or better - normally at least 12 HCP or a hand meeting the " ...
fame, while others refer to it as "Castlebury" (or "Castleberry"?), but the present author is not aware of any source that would verify either attribution.
Control-showing responses
Some players prefer to show their controls (high cards) rather than suits in the response to 2 opening bid. This has an advantage in cases when the opener has a strong one- or two-suiter (i.e. has an interest in cover cards rather than finding the suit fit), but can take up bidding space and miss a suit fit when the opener is balanced or semi-balanced.
* In standard "controls," an
ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
counts as two controls and a
king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
counts as one control. The theoretical advantage of this system is that aces and kings may be more significant for finding a potential slam than other honor cards, but it also may miss a slam opportunity if the responder has a lot of inferior honor cards. There are several variations in the manner of showing the number of controls, all of which are alertable. The following examples of responses are representative but by no means all-inclusive.
** 2 shows 0 or 1 control (at most 1 king),
** 2 shows 2 controls (1 ace or 2 kings),
** 2 shows 3 controls (specifically 1 ace and 1 king),
** 2NT shows 3 controls (specifically 3 kings), and
** 3 shows 4 controls,
** 3 or higher, etc. on up the line.
* With ace-showing responses, the responder bids the suit of the Ace, 2NT with two or more kings, and 2 with a king or less. With (unlikely) 2 aces, the responder bids 3. As a corollary, subsequent
Blackwood by the opener asks for kings rather than aces.
Either-or treatment
Some players play that 2 can also contain a weak variant, for example the 2
weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
. In this scheme, 2 by responder is a waiting bid, asking the opener to describe his hand further if he is strong. If the opening hand has a weak two bid in diamonds, he should pass. However, if the responder has a strong hand, typically 15
high card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
or more, he responds with 2NT. This treatment is often subject to restrictions in tournament play, as it has a destructive potential—see
Bridge convention#Regulations.
Advantages
One major advantage of the artificial opening bid of 2 for all types of strong hands is that other opening bids at the two-level (2, 2 and 2) become available for
weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
s, thus eliminating many possible bids for the opponents. These weak two hands appear 20 times as often as the very strong hands, which illustrates the inefficiency of reserving all opening bids at the two-level for very strong hands.
An alternative is to use
strong two bid
In contract bridge, a strong two-bid (also known as a forcing two-bidFrancis et al (2001), p. 443.Francis et al (2001), p. 163. The strong two-bid was the cornerstone of the Culbertson system.) is an opening bid of two in a suit, i.e. 2, 2, 2 or ...
s for hands which are strong but not game forcing, which reduces the range of one-level openings and helps bidding accuracy. However, since weak twos are so useful, there are methods which allow weak twos in hearts and spades and use 2 to show a different range of strong hands; these are
Benjaminised (Benji) Acol, Reverse Benji and the
Multicoloured Two Diamonds.
Another advantage is the relative precision with which strong balanced hands can be bid. An opening bid of 2 NT indicates a balanced hand with 20-21 HCP in
Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'Go ...
or 20-22 HCP in standard
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
, and for even stronger balanced hands, the opening bid of 2 can be used. The opener's rebid (in these cases always in No Trump) then indicates the strength of the hand using steps of 2-3 HCP. Hence 2 - 2 - 2NT shows 22-24 HCP's in
Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'Go ...
or 23-24 HCP in
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
, while a 3NT rebid can show 25+ HCP's.
Disadvantages
If the opening bid of 2 is exclusively used for strong hands, the auction becomes more susceptive to disruptive (jump) overcalls (especially when the opposing partnership is not
vulnerable) than the "old" treatment of strong two bids. However, that danger is smaller when compared to strong 1 system in
strong club system
The Strong Club System is a set of bidding conventions and agreements used in the game of contract bridge and is based upon an opening bid of 1 as being an artificial forcing bid promising a strong hand. The strong 1 opening is assigned a minimum ...
s, because 2 bid is made with bigger high-card strength and on a higher level. On the other hand, the strong 2 opening reduces the bidding space for the pair themselves compared with strong 1—sometimes, the pair can be unable to find a fit on a relatively low level (below 3NT), and/or reduce the space for effective slam investigation with
cue bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
ding.
Other treatments
In most
strong club system
The Strong Club System is a set of bidding conventions and agreements used in the game of contract bridge and is based upon an opening bid of 1 as being an artificial forcing bid promising a strong hand. The strong 1 opening is assigned a minimum ...
s, the opening bid of 2 is natural and promises a hand with long clubs (for example, in both
Precision
Precision, precise or precisely may refer to:
Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general)
* Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter
* Significant figures, the number of digit ...
and
Blue club
Blue Club is a bridge bidding system, developed mainly by Benito Garozzo. It was used by the famous Blue Team and became very popular in the 1960s. It has gained a strong following ever since.
The main features are:
* Strong club system: 1 open ...
, it shows 11-15 high card points and either a 6-card club suit or at least a 5-card club suit and a 4-card
major suit In the card game contract bridge, the major suits are spades () and hearts (). The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and scoring as they outrank the minor suits while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major ...
). As such, it makes overcalls more difficult, since they have to be made at the two-level. Chances are therefore increased that the side of the opener has an undisturbed auction, and the opponents will not discover a fit in a major suit. However, as a corollary, their strong 1 opening bid is more susceptible to
preempt
Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A ...
ing by opponents.
Another variant advocates two strong forcing openings, 2 for strong hands with fewer than four spades and 2 for strong hands with four or more spades.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong Two Clubs
Bridge conventions