The weak two bid is a common treatment 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. [1] It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing artificial opening to handle hands of (eg) 20+ points, or an expectation of 8 or more tricks. It is form of preemptive bid.
The strong call releases any remaining two level openings for pre-empting your opponents. In North America it is commonly used in combination with the strong two clubs convention. Worldwide there are many other variants, the commonest being a strong one club. “Weak Two” refers specifically to an opening bid, not to be confused with the "weak jump overcall". That denotes a similar hand type, made over an opponent's opening bid.
2S is most powerful in terms of pre-emption against your opponents. 2H is less so, easily defended by either a take out double or a 2S overcall. Paradoxically the 2D opening can be very disruptive. Your opponents have to explore potential fit in both majors, and then play at the correct level. 2C pre-emption is uncommon, almost always associated with forcing 1-level agreements.
On the islands of Britain a system termed Benjaminised "Benji" Acol is common, associated with forcing 2C and 2D bids. One of these as powerful as the American 2C, The other a traditional "Acol Two" in as yet unspecified suit. The style was very popular in the 1990s, with more recent return in tournament Bridge strong but flexible 2C and three Weak Twos.
Requirements for a weak two bid vary by partnership. A common agreement is that it requires:
What "a good suit" might be is a further matter of partnership agreement. American Contract Bridge League recommends that it contain 2+ top honours, or 3 of the top 5 cards in the suit. However it also licenses conventions to enquire how many of these are held.
A prototype of the weak two was used in auction bridge, and the principle was attested as early as 1910 by J.B. Elwell. [3] It was incorporated into the Vanderbilt Club system. In early 1940s, Howard Schenken developed the modern weak two-bid along lines similar to Vanderbilt's. [1]
In Charles Goren's original bidding system, when a player opened the bidding with two of a suit, this signified that the player held a very strong hand. (This later became known as the strong two bid.) Later players found it more effective to reserve only the conventional two clubs opening, to show a strong hand. That left the room for opening bids of 2D, 2H, or 2S to show a weak hand with a six-card suit. This became known as the weak two bid. In some systems, a bid of 2C shows a strong hand with a five-card suit, and a bid of 2D shows a hand that is similarly strong, but balanced. These alternate versions are less common.
Standard American responses to weak twos are as follows...
This is known as RONF for raise only non-forcing bid.
After a 2NT enquiry.
New suit shows a stop for NT.
Weak Pulls
Ogust
Playing Parallel Twos an opening 2C shows five hearts 7-11 HCP, 2D shows five spades 7-11 HCP. The 2C and 2D opener's are referred to as Parallel Twos because they are played in parallel with the regular six card weak twos in hearts and spades. You can play them in any bidding system Acol, SAYC, Precision, Blue Club etc. See the eBook "Parallel Twos For You" N.Jones June 2014.
The European Muiderberg convention, (co-invented by Alan Woo of London) allows weak two-level bids to be made on 5-card suits with a 4+ lower ranking side suit. They have equal pre-emption and are more common than the 6-card, or 5-5 hand types. Typically a non-vulnerable Muiderberg Two shows 5-9 points, 2NT is often used as strong enquiry, with 3C asking opener to pass or correct to 3D). This style melds well with a multi 2 diamonds so that regular 6-card hand types may also be expressed.
Lucas twos are even more flexible. You open the five card suit. The four card suit may be higher, or lower.
An opening showing either 5+4+ or 4+4+ cards in two specified suits. Superficially reckless, the hand type is extremely common, around 2½ times more so than the 6+ type. risk is to be taken for a penalty. Against that you’re probability of finding eight card or better fit is 68%, and 65% respectively. The law of total tricked protects you at two level as if a significant penalty is available, opponents will often do better bidding game in their own fit denomination.
Playing Parallel Twos an opening 2C shows five hearts 7-11 HCP, 2D shows five spades 7-11 HCP. The 2C and 2D opener's are referred to as Parallel Twos because they are played in parallel with the regular six card weak twos in hearts and spades. You can play them in any bidding system Acol, SAYC, Precision, Blue Club etc. See the eBook "Parallel Twos For You" N.Jones June 2014.
Antispades Twos (also known as Antispades Weak Twos) make up a two-level opening based on either a six-card suit or a two-suiter with at least nine cards distributed across any two suits. The 2C opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card club suit, or clubs and diamonds, or clubs and spades. The 2D opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card diamond suit, or diamonds and hearts, or diamonds and spades. The 2H opening promises 5-10 HCP and either a 6-card heart suit, or hearts and spades, or hearts and clubs. (The 2S opening is artificial and very strong, promising either 23+ HCP balanced, or a hand of 16+ HCP with four losers or fewer.)
Partnerships can adopt Weak, Parallel, Lucas or Antispades Twos and retain their existing one-level bidding structure — for example, Acol or Five-card Majors — along with a strong balanced meaning for the 2NT opening.
Stayman is a bidding convention in the card game contract bridge. It is used by a partnership to find a 4-4 or 5-3 trump fit in a major suit after making a one notrump (1NT) opening bid and it has been adapted for use after a 2NT opening, a 1NT overcall, and many other natural notrump bids.
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, a weak no trump.
Polish Club is a bridge bidding system which was developed in Poland, where it is the most popular bidding system, and which is also used by players of other countries. It is a type of small club system.
A game try in the card game of bridge is a bid that shows interest in bidding a game and asks partner to help in making the decision.
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 suit ranked just above that bid by responder. For example, a response in diamonds forces a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts forces a rebid in spades. Transfers are used to show a weak hand with a long major suit, and to ensure that opener declare the hand if the final contract is in the suit transferred to, preventing the opponents from seeing the cards of the stronger hand.
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.
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 bidding is for each partnership to ascertain which contract, whether made or defeated and whether bid by them or by their opponents, would give the partnership their best scoring result.
Preempt 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 preemptive bid is usually made by jumping, i.e. skipping one or more bidding levels. Since it deprives the opponents of the bidding space, it is expected that they will either find a wrong contract of their own, or fail to find any. A preemptive bid often has the aim of a save, where a partnership bids a contract knowing it cannot be made, but assumes that, the penalty will still be smaller than the value of opponents' bid and made contract.
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid of one of a suit where the double shows a hand with opening values, support for all three unbid suits and shortness in the suit doubled. Normally, the partner of the doubler must bid his best suit but may pass if (a) his right hand opponent intervenes or (b) on the more rare occasions when his hand is such that he wishes to convert the takeout double to a penalty double.
Jacoby 2NT is a bridge convention in which a bid of 2NT over partner's opening bid of one heart or one spade shows a hand with both
Multi-coloured 2 diamonds, is a contract bridge convention whereby the opening bid of 2D shows a defined range of hand types. These always include a weak-two bid in a major suit, and the second option, that must be a strong. The inherent ambiguity as to both suit and strength makes a powerful, and hence popular. It was originally considered disruptive, but is now thought fairly easy to defend. It is commonplace in the British Isles, permitted in international competition, but rarely seen North America.
Bridge bidding systems that incorporate a strong 2 clubs opening bid include modern Standard American, standard Acol, 2/1 game forcing and many others.
Muiderberg is a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level preemptive opening based on a two-suiter with precisely a five-card major and a minor suit. In Muiderberg the 2♥ opening denotes five hearts and an unknown minor suit, whilst 2♠ denotes five spades and an unknown minor suit. The convention is also known as the Dutch Two, Lucas Two or Woo Two opening. The convention is named after the Dutch village Muiderberg, the residence of the designers of the convention - Onno Janssens and Willem Boegem.
A reverse, in the card game contract bridge, is a bidding sequence designed to show additional strength without the need to make a jump bid; specifically two suits are bid in the reverse order to that expected by the basic bidding system. Precise methods and definitions vary with country, bidding system and partnership agreements.
Inverted minors refers to a treatment introduced by the Kaplan–Sheinwold (K–S) bidding system for the popular card game bridge. The original structure of Precision, another bidding system, also employed inverted minors over a 1♦ opening. However, the treatment is no longer restricted to users of these bidding systems. although partnerships that use a Short club system tend also to use the convention only after a 1♦ opener.
Ogust is a bridge convention used by responder after his partner has made a weak-two opening bid; its purpose is to gauge the strength of the weak-two bidder's hand. Named after Harold A. Ogust from the United States, the convention is also known as the 'Blue Club response' from the bidding system developed by Benito Garozzo.
Bridge base basic, also known as BBO basic, is a bidding system for the game of bridge based on the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC). It is simplified, suitable for beginners, and widely used in internet bridge, particularly on Bridge Base Online. It is taught in Fred Gitelman's educational software called Learn to Play Bridge that is available as a free download from the American Contract Bridge League's website.
Transfer Walsh is a bidding convention used in contract bridge. After a 1♣ opening bid, responses of 1♦ and 1♥ show heart and spade suits respectively. The "Walsh" terminology refers to the fact that these bids may conceal an equal or longer diamond suit. It allows opener to play a greater proportion of major-suit and no-trump contracts, particularly when using five-card majors.
In contract bridge, a strong two-bid is an opening bid of two in a suit, i.e. 2♣, 2♦, 2♥ or 2 ♠. It is a natural bid, used to show a hand that is too strong to open at the one level. Commonly used in the early days of bridge, most expert players converted after World War II to the now more common weak two bid retaining only 2♣ as a strong opening suit-bid and changing its meaning to artificial and forcing holding any suit. This was done on the basis that the weak two-bid would occur much more frequently.
Antispades Twos is the name of a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level pre-emptive opening based on either a 6-card suit or a two-suiter with at least nine cards distributed across any two suits.