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Inside the Strong Two Club Opening Bid
Before getting into two diamond response sequences, it is worth taking a look at typical 2♣ openers and why they are important. This article is a bit different from classical bridge material. Instead of the author creating each hand to suit his arguments, the hands have been selected from a group of random deals. South always has the strong hand but sometimes qualifies for a 2♣ opener and other times does not!
In Sample Power Hands , 96 hands have been randomly dealt using Dealmaster. Deal parameters for the South hand are:
Hands 4, 9, 13, 20 and 21 (and others) show why the forcing 2♣ is necessary. If a one level bid is opened, North is very likely to pass on hands 4, 12 and 20 and might pass 9. Hand 21 is included to illustrate a non-2♦ response. Another reason for playing 2♣ strong, is that the opponents may pre-empt over a one-level bid, making it hard for South to show a power house.
So the reason for opening 2♣ is to create a force when partner has either less than six HCPS or less than something like Axxxxxx in a suit.
Not all hands in Sample Power Hands qualify for a 2♣ opener. If a minimum response is needed from partner, others can be handled by reverses, jump-shift rebids, 2NT rebids or simply a jump to game.
Two diamonds waiting is the simplest response to two clubs but also the least documented. To get the general idea of responses, we will start by looking a few hands from Sample Power Hands. After that, some guidelines will be developed.
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