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Bridge Lessons - Opening 2 Bids Acol Lesson 16

♠ Opening 2NT

Opening at the level of 2 indicates to your partner that you have a very strong hand. It is similar to a 1NT opening in that you must have a balanced hand, with 20-2 2HCP.

Your hand must be balanced. This means the distribution of cards in each suit in your hand must be one of these patterns either: 5,3,3,2; or 4,4,3,2; or 4,3,3,3:

Opening 2NT

20 - 22 HCP

A balanced hand

Opening 2NT is not a forcing bid the responder usually chooses the final contract immediately

Hands suitable for Opening 2NT

Hand 1.

Your Hand
♠ A 9 4
♥ A Q J
♦ K Q J 10
♣ K 4 3

Your Bid
Bid 2NT. You have 20 HCP and a balanced hand

Hand 2.

Your Hand
♠ A K Q 10
♥ K J 9 2
♦ A 7 2
♣ A 6

Your Bid
Bid 2NT, you have 22 HCP and a balanced hand.
Your 4 card spade and 4 card heart suit suggest you may be better playing in a major suit. We will learn later how responder can enquire about your major suit holding ("Stayman"convention)

Hand 3.

Your Hand
♠ Q J 7
♥ A J 6
♦ A K J 10 8
♣ A 7

Your Bid
Bid 2NT. You have 20 HCP a balanced hand and a 5 card minor suit.

Open 2NT on all of the hands above. Responder simply calculates the total point count and decides whether or not to bid game and also whether to play the hand in a suit contract or notrumps.

2NT Opening - Acol Lesson 16