An opening bid of 2♦, 2♥, or 2♠ in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd seat is called a Weak 2 Bid. Opening a Weak 2 typically shows a 6-card suit and 5-10 HCP. A conservative Weak 2♥ opening bid would show a good 6-card suit, 2 of the top 3 or 3 of the top 5, with potentially an outside Ace or King.
Note that a 2♣ opening bid is strong, artificial, and forcing. Only 2♦, 2♥, and 2♠ are weak 2 bids.
| South | West | North | East |
| Pass | 2♥ |
On the above auction, West might have a hand like ♠42 ♥KQ9843 ♦7 ♣K982 or ♠4 ♥AJT843 ♦7532 ♣J2.
A conservative preempting style will not allow you to preempt as often as pairs with a more aggressive style. The modern style is to relax the standards for a Weak 2 Bid in 1st seat and 3rd seat so you can preempt more often. See our "Preempts by Seat Position" article.
When you are weak in 3rd seat, your opponents are likely to have a game or a slam. You should preempt very aggressively to make it difficult for your opponents to find the right contract.
- Consider preempting a Weak 2 on a weaker suit than normal or a good 5-card suit.
- With a normal Weak 2 (e.g. ♠4 ♥AJT843 ♦7532 ♣82), consider preempting at the 3-level to put additional pressure on your opponents.
Responding to a Weak 2 Bid
When your partner opens a Weak 2, you become the Captain of the Auction.
- Doubles are for penalty
- Raises are not invitational, they are simply advancing the preempt
- Whether a new suit is forcing or not requires partnership agreement. If you preempt aggressively in first seat, treating a new as non-forcing is recommended because it makes it easier for responder to try to improve the contract.
- Redoubles ask the preempter to double if they have shortness in a suit bid by their right-hand opponent
Judging whether you have a game is more about tricks than it is about high card points.
- Aces in side suits are valuable, Kings to a lesser extent
- Queens and Jacks are less valuable in side suits
If you would like to invite game, it is wise to use a 2NT response as an asking bid to assess whether a game may be available. The easiest approach is to use 2NT as a Feature Asking Bid.
| South | West | North | East |
| 2♠ | Pass | 2NT | Pass |
| ? |
The Weak 2 preempter answers as follows:
- With a poor suit (not 2 of the top 3 honors or 3 of the top 5 honors), rebid your preempt suit.
- Lacking an Ace or a King is a side suit, rebid your preempt suit.
- With a good suit (2 of the top 3 or 3 of the top 5) and an outside Ace or King, bid the suit of your outside Ace or King.
These responses help responder assess whether a game is available. This approach is particularly good for conservative preempters.
If your partnership preempts aggressively as dealer, you may prefer using a 2NT game try to ask about the quality of the Weak 2 bidders suit and the quality of their hand. This agreement is called Ogust. See our article about Ogust. Since a 2nd seat preempt should guarantee a good suit, playing Ogust has little value opposite a 2nd seat Weak 2 bid.
Related Articles:
- In his "Responding to Weak Two-Bids" Larry Cohen advises how and when to apply the Law of Total Tricks after partner opens a Weak Two-Bid.
