A balanced hand should be opened 2C if it has 22<\/em>\u00a0or more HCP.<\/p>\n After 2C-2D, 2NT shows the range 22-24<\/em>\u00a0HCP.<\/p>\n After 2C-2D-2NT, responder\u2019s bids mean the same as if the opening bid was 2NT<\/em>. Specifically, Stayman<\/em>\u00a0and transfers<\/em>\u00a0are ON.<\/p>\n After 2C-2D, 3NT shows the range 25\u00a0to 27<\/em>\u00a0HCP.<\/p>\n You and your partner need to decide what 4C means after 2C-2D-3NT. It could be Gerber<\/em>\u00a0or it could be Stayman<\/em>. I recommend that you play it as Gerber\u00a0and give up on Stayman at this level<\/em>.<\/p>\n I recommend that transfers<\/em>\u00a0are still on over the 3NT rebid.<\/p>\n With 28\u00a0to 29<\/em>\u00a0HCP opener rebids 4NT. With 30 to 31<\/em>\u00a0HCP opener rebids 5NT. Don\u2019t worry, this will never happen to you.<\/p>\n A big single suited hand should be opened 2C if it is within about a trick and a half<\/em>\u00a0of game. For a major suit, this is 8 1\u0010\/2<\/em>\u00a0tricks, while for a minor suit this is 9 1\/2<\/em> tricks\u00a0.<\/p>\n If the hand is light on outside defensive tricks then consider opening it with a game<\/em>\u00a0bid instead to preempt the opponents.<\/p>\n Jumping in your suit shows extra length<\/em>\u00a0and sets trumps<\/em>\u00a0.<\/p>\n Big two-suited hands are difficult to describe<\/em>\u00a0in the bidding space available.<\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s appropriate to open these hands one of a suit and then jump-shift<\/em>.<\/p>\n Big three-suited hands are the most difficult<\/em>\u00a0to describe after opening 2C.<\/p>\n If the singleton is a top honor, consider opening as if the hand were balanced<\/em>.<\/p>\n Otherwise, you have to treat one of your suits as if it were five<\/em>\u00a0cards long.<\/p>\n A positive hand is one that has slam<\/em>\u00a0ambitions even if partner has the 22-24 balanced variant of a 2C opener. (i.e about 8+ HCP)<\/p>\n Suit\u00a0quality<\/em> is the most important criterion in deciding to give a positive response in a suit.<\/p>\n The suit should be at least five<\/em>\u00a0cards long and contain two<\/em>\u00a0of the top three<\/em>\u00a0honors.<\/p>\n With a balanced hand of 8+ HCP it\u2019s still better to treat it as a waiting<\/em>\u00a0hand to preserve space for opener to describe her hand.<\/p>\n A negative hand is one that has doubt about whether the partnership can make game<\/em>.<\/p>\n A hand with a King<\/em>\u00a0or an Ace<\/em>\u00a0is never a negative hand.<\/p>\n Hands that aren\u2019t positive<\/em>\u00a0or negative<\/em>.<\/p>\n With a negative hand, respond 2D first. Pass opener\u2019s NT<\/em>\u00a0bids. Over a suit<\/em>, bid the cheapest minor suit.<\/p>\n Raising opener\u2019s suit to game is less\u00a0encouraging<\/em> than a single raise. (Example: 2C-2D-2S-4S as compared with 2C-2D-2S-3S).<\/p>\n Respond 2H with a negative<\/em>\u00a0hand.<\/p>\n The 2D response is still waiting<\/em>\u00a0but now it\u2019s game<\/em>–forcing<\/em>.<\/p>\n You may play against people who show controls or steps in response to 2C. I play controls in my advanced partnerships. I do not recommend step responses because plain HCP information is not very useful to the big opener. When your partner opens 2C a king is worth a lot more than a stray queen and a jack.<\/p>\n If your opponents are playing control or step responses you have the opportunity to double<\/em>\u00a0their artificial bid to request a lead<\/em>\u00a0of that suit.<\/p>\n Pesky opponents will get into your 2C auctions, especially if they are not<\/em>\u00a0vulnerable<\/em>.<\/p>\n Double usually shows a negative<\/em>\u00a0hand, with some doubt about whether game is possible.<\/p>\n Pass is waiting<\/em>\u00a0.<\/p>\n Suit responses are encouraging, but not necessarily as strict<\/em>\u00a0as the positive responses to 2C in an uncontested auction.<\/p>\n Copyright 2014: Peter Haglich<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2C Opener Big Balanced Hands A balanced hand should be opened 2C if it has 22\u00a0or more HCP. After 2C-2D, 2NT shows the range 22-24\u00a0HCP. After 2C-2D-2NT, responder\u2019s bids mean the same as if the opening bid was 2NT. Specifically,…Big Suited Hands<\/h2>\n
Big Two Suiters<\/h2>\n
Big Three Suiters<\/h2>\n
Responding to the 2C Opener<\/h1>\n
Positive Hands<\/h2>\n
Positive Suited Hands<\/h3>\n
Positive Balanced Hands.<\/h3>\n
Negative Hands<\/h2>\n
Waiting Hands<\/h2>\n
Response Systems to 2C<\/h1>\n
Standard Response System<\/h2>\n
2H Immediate Bust Response System<\/h2>\n
Control and Step Response Systems<\/h2>\n
Coping with Interference<\/h1>\n
General Principles<\/h2>\n
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36,"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35\/revisions\/36"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bigfootbridge.club\/bigfootbridge\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}