The Weak Two-Bid
Background
This page originally formed notes for students on the Ipswich and Kesgrave classes in 2012/13. The text has been slightly edited for ease of reading outside that context.
This was the only significant divergence from the EBU source material. The national programme Ipswich and Kesgrave followed, 'Teaching for Club Development', advises that tuition should reflect club practice.
Rationale
Weak-twos were taught to the group who started in autumn 2010 and it worked well, for these reasons.
- Weak-twos happen more often and are therefore self-reinforcing.
- Being in more auctions makes bridge more fun.
- Almost all duplicate players employ some variety of weak-two; even if you decide not to yourself, you will still have to play against them.
- Strong two-bids are handled badly by those new to the game; many of the principles of conducting auctions (for example forcing bids) are better understood if strong hands are a possibility elsewhere.
On Pre-Empts in General
There are two ideas behind opening a hand that has tricks in a long suit but not all round strength. The first is to alert partner to that hand-type and reach a contract your side can make. But the second is to make life difficult for the opponents.
To achieve the first objective you should have a good suit, perhaps good enough to be trumps on its own, like ♥KQJ1095. For the second you might have the same suit but equally it would be good to keep them guessing, say ♥Q108532. How can you know if partner will 'take you seriously'?
When your side is vulnerable and additionally, especially when the opponents are not, you shouldn't be bidding to contracts you can't make. It is too small a target to hit . Likewise when you are in second-seat after an opponent has passed; now there is a 50-50 chance it is partner who has a good hand.
The 'traffic light' table for opening a pre-empt is quite similar to the one for judging when to overcall – many of the same considerations apply.
| Aggressive | Cautious | Conservative |
|---|---|---|
| NV v Vul | 'Equal' Vul | Vul v NV |
| Sacrificing at all levels a live possibility. | Sacrifice against part-scores non-vulnerable. | Sacrificing unlikely at any level. |
| Third seat | Dealer | Second seat |
| The remaining opponent is itching to bid and is looking for a quiet life. Anything goes. | It's two against one, twice as likely any decent hand belongs to an opponent | It's 50-50 now whether your side has a contract or they do. |
| You have Spades | Diamonds or hearts | |
| Spades are the best; they have to start at 2NT or above, you can sacrifice without going up a level. | Don't underestimate diamonds; opponents must cater for possibilities in either major. Over hearts they can concentrate on spades or no-trumps. | |
| Good 'texture' | Mixed | 'Gappy' suits |
| KQJ1076 has no losers other than the ace – it's an easy suit to play. | KJ10983 – you can finesse for the queen but that needs an entry and enough trumps in dummy. And the finesse to work of course. | KJ6532 – that's a suit that needs support, multiple entries and a lot of luck to avoid several losers. |
| Little outside strength | HCPs outside | |
| This is on message; partner doesn't expect anything outside anyway. | High cards in other suits may well take trick in defence. That means if partner sacrifices that may be wrong. Partner often counts on making tricks (or at least avoiding losers) in the long suit, strength outside often disappoints. | |
| 7-9 HCP | 8-10 HCP | 5-7 HCP |
| Fine for all purposes. | It's quite possible you can make something, be careful when partner may think you are just spoiling; that is with many other 'green' indicators present. | Don't be this weak with any other 'red' signs visible. |
Opening 2♦, 2♥ and 2♠
Requirements
Weak two-bids are like weak three-bids but shorter – six cards to bigger brother's seven.
They have a decent six-card suit and somewhere between 5-10 HCP, most of which should be in the long suit. They should not have a side 4-card major, at least not one as good as Qxxx. Partner isn't able to easily explore alternative strains and you may play the wrong game – which is very costly.
Examples
| ♠ AKJ1054 ♥ 106 ♦ 52 ♣ J42 |
♠ 76 ♥ 10 ♦ QJ10952 ♣ QJ42 |
♠ QJ42 ♥ 10 ♦ AJ10952 ♣ 76 |
♠ 98 ♥ KJ98653 ♦ Q4 ♣ J4 |
| 2♠ Great spades but 6-3-2-2 which is less good. This is a 2♠ opening at all vulnerabilities and positions. | 2♦ Non-vulnerable only or after partner has passed. The worry is that if you open 2♦ vulnerable partner will hope to run the diamond suit for six tricks with, say ♦Kx. …And that's not likely to be a success. | Pass Having a reasonable 4-card spade suit on the side is a no-no (at least for the time being). Once partner has passed it becomes less risky that you will miss 4♠ so, third in hand (that is, after two passes) 2♦ is fine. | 2♥ I generally don't like weak-twos on a 7-card suits but 7-2-2-2 is a very poor shape and here I'm more comfortable with 2♥ than 3♥. Third hand NV, pre-empt to the max with 3♥. |
That's about it. There are only two wrinkles…
Developing the Auction
-
Because this is only the 2-level, responder doesn't have to guess level and strain to anything like the extent he does over a 3-opener where there is little bidding space. After an opening 3♦ responder almost always calls, Pass, 3NT or 5♦, over an opening 3♠ responder usually chooses between Pass and 4♠.
Also at this modest level, opener might be a wider range; it pains us to pass with a six-card suit.
Moreover, as opener only has a six-card suit, it's possible responder's suit is better; either longer or, when opener has diamonds, a major when 4♥ or 4♠ become possible.
These observations mean that responder needs methods to explore alternative strains and levels.
-
There is also the opportunity to 'raise the stakes' and convert the little brother weak-two to the middle-ranking weak three. So, raising 2♥ to 3♥ is a non-constructive or pre-emptive raise, it is not an invitation to bid on and opener should pass.
The same goes for a double raise, 2♦ to 4♦, 2♥ to 4♥, 2♠ to 4♠. Responder may not have the values for game but be bidding to the 4-level as an advance sacrifice.
Responding to an opening 2♦, 2♥ or 2♠
| Responses | Description | Example | Requirements | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2♥, 2♠ | Constructive, non-forcing |
|
Responder needs a good suit and a reason for bidding, such as game ambitions. Opener doesn't have to bid but should if they fit responder's suit. If opener's suit is solid, then they can rebid that, say ♠2 ♥Q83 ♦KQJ1084 ♣873, open 2♦ and rebid 3♦ over partner's 2♠ but raise 2♥ to 3♥ (or even game). | |
| Single raise | Non-constructive, pre-emptive raise |
and 2♠ to 3♠ |
Judge your pre-emptive raises by the combined trump length. The idea is if you have nine trumps you are safe at the nine-trick level (3♦, 3♥, 3♠), ten trumps, the ten-trick level (4♦, 4♥, 4♠). This principle is known as the security level and is used to judge how high to raise partner's overcall. This is not an invitation and Opener will pass. | |
| Double raise | Ambiguous raise |
and 2♦ to 4♦ |
With ten trumps raise to the 4-level. Opponents won't know when, say, 2♠ is raised to 4♠ whether responder is bidding to make or sacrifice. That's their problem. Neither the single- nor double-raise promise any particular point-count. Opener will pass and only know responder's motives when dummy goes down. | |
| 3♣, 3♦, 3♥, 3♠ | New suit at 3-level |
|
As is the case almost everywhere, "new suits at the 3-level are forcing". This may not help on many awkward hands (such as the example) but at least you know opener must bid, a request to "do something intelligent partner" – good luck. | |
| Game raise | Strong raise |
and 2♠ to 4♠ |
This is the strong-side of the ambiguous raise above. If the partnership has sufficient trumps (8+) and strength (~25 HCP) then you should be in game. Often this raise is on a strong balanced hand, effectively a 'big no-trump' opposite a six-card suit. It takes courage for an opponent to come in after a raise to the 4-level when responder might be as strong as the example. | |
| 3NT | Natural and strong |
(raise 2M to 4M) |
This is more usual opposite a 2♦ opener (but not impossible over 2-major). Responder is bidding to make and so should either have tricks in hand or hope to develop opener's suit. In the second case they must have a fit for opener. Do not bid 3NT on a misfit. | |
| 2NT | Enquiry | Considered below | Responder uses 2NT to ask opener, "how good are you?". They need to do this from time to time to gauge the level. As with other invitational bids (think raising 1NT to 2NT) bidding on is a balance between risking raising the level and going down against passing and making overtricks. |
The 2NT Enquiry
Responder uses 2NT to judge the partnership level.
This maybe to decide whether to bid game, or slam or what game to play. Responder's 2NT is forcing. Almost everyone who plays weak-twos employs 2NT as an enquiry as we do. Some players develop complicated schemes for opener's rebids but we are going for simplicity.
Opener assesses how good they are within the rather wide range of 5-10 HCP and variable suit quality.
- If opener is minimum, they rebid the suit they opened.
- If opener likes their hand they do something else. Usually that means bidding a side-suit that contains a useful card. If they just have a great suit they can bid 3NT or 4-major.
When opener repeats the suit that is 'bad news', anything else is 'good news'. This method is usually described as "showing features".
Responding to the Enquiry
You open a weak 2♠ and partner responds 2NT:
| ♠ K108542 ♥ 6 ♦ Q952 ♣ J4 |
♠ AKJ1054 ♥ 106 ♦ 52 ♣ J42 |
♠ KQ10952 ♥ 6 ♦ K952 ♣ J4 |
♠ KJ10752 ♥ K6 ♦ 52 ♣ J42 |
| 3♠ This is a minimum and my 3♠ is 'bad news'. I opened because I hoped to inconvenience the opponents but partner has a good hand, sadly I don't … | 3NT The very good spades mean this is a 'good' weak-two. With no side-value to indentify the choice is between 3NT and 4♠; being balanced suggests 3NT. 3♠ would be weak – and this hand is not. | 3♦ The good shape (6-4-2-1) and goodish spades make being optimistic on this hand worth the risk. 3♦ may help responder – they know opener is non-minimum and has something in diamonds. | 3♥/3♠ To answer the rebid question we need to know the vulnerability. Non-vulnerable this is just worth 3♥ – after all, I might have opened 2♠ without the ♥K. But vulnerable this is a minimum weak-two and I won't suggest extras. |