omg what is that?

[skjaeran]

I don't know anyone who would bid 5♦ undiscussed there without intending the bid to be natural. I don't think I'd ever come across a partner who would suggest it to be anything but natural - if we ever discussed this.

 

As to 2NT overcall - in Scandinavia it's absolutely standard to play this as the two lowest unbid suits (although in Denmark some play Copenhagen - similar to Ghestem). And it's far from GF. So I totally agree with Josh on that account.

[the hog]

As to 2NT overcall - in Scandinavia it's absolutely standard to play this as the two lowest unbid suits (although in Denmark some play Copenhagen - similar to Ghestem). And it's far from GF. So I totally agree with Josh on that account.

Ok so how do YOU show S? Seems a pretty stuffed and crippled system if you can't. Anyway what is standard in one part of the world is not so in others.

[gnasher]

In England also it's standard to play the cue bid as the highest two and 2NT as the lowest two. This is hardly ideal, but playing 2NT as clubs and a unknown major doesn't seem any better. Auctions like (1♦)-2♦-(4♦) or (1♦)-2♦-(5♦) must be hard to handle.

 

Over any opening, I prefer to use the cue bid as the highest two, and 2NT as highest and lowest. If you're going to play specific two-suiters, I am sure this is better than the Michaels/UNT arrangement, for these reasons:

 

- If you bid 2♦ over 1♦ showing hearts and clubs, and they bid spades, you're less likely to want to compete than if you had shown spades and clubs and they'd bid hearts. The potential gain from showing spades and clubs is greater than from showing hearts and clubs.

 

- If you have spades and clubs and have to overcall 1♠ over 1♦, and the bidding later comes back to you in, say, 3♥, bidding clubs would take you past 3♠. If you have hearts and clubs and have to overcall 1♥ over 1♦, and the bidding later comes back to you in, say, 3♠, bidding clubs doesn't bypass any likely contracts. The "muddling through" approach is less effective with spades and clubs than with hearts and clubs.

[skjaeran]

Standard here is that 2NT shows the two lowest and a cuebid both majors or the other major + a minor.

 

I normally play the cuebid to show both majors (over minor) or ♣ + other M (over major). That means we have no single bid to show the blacks (over 1♦) or ♦+M over 1M. Those hands we bid naturally, overcalling our major. We might or might not be able to/want to show the minor suit later.

[jdonn]

As to 2NT overcall - in Scandinavia it's absolutely standard to play this as the two lowest unbid suits (although in Denmark some play Copenhagen - similar to Ghestem). And it's far from GF. So I totally agree with Josh on that account.

Ok so how do YOU show S? Seems a pretty stuffed and crippled system if you can't.

Well fwiw I don't consider it a necessity to show every 2 suited combination right away. I think of the ones I can show as a bonus for bids that would otherwise have no use.