Which opening with strong hands?
The French standard system dedicates three opening bids to the description of strong hands: 2♣ (semi-forcing), 2♦ (game forcing) and 2NT. When should you use one or the other? When should you be satisfied with opening your hand at the one-level? Find the answers in today’s article…
What’s the lower limit for you to consider that your hand is “strong” and should benefit from a special opening bid? It all depends on the type of hand you have …
A· Opening a strong hand with a lot of HCP.
In principle, an opening of 2NT describes a balanced hand of 20-21 HCP. You can make this bid with a five-card major unless the suit is very good and you don’t want to receive the opening lead.
It makes sense to also open 2NT with hands that contain a six-card minor and honors in all four suits. But be careful! The trick taking potential of a six-card suit is such that you must add 2 points to your HCP to choose the correct opening:
With six good Clubs you must open 2NT with 18 or 19 HCP, not more.
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