Weekly Hand Analysis - Mark Olsky - July 25, 2022 - Weak 2 bid

Question: 

My partner and I have not usually opened a “weak” 2 if declarer is also holding is a 4 card Major. In this example, N has 9 HCP, 6S and 4H and has had a mental lapse and opened 2S.

 When looking closely at this hand it could be said that N has 13 biddable pts based on length in S and shortness in C and D BUT we have also been told that you don’t count distribution pts until you’ve determined a suit.

 So N makes 4S since S has good holdings outside of S but did not bid because responder only had 12 HCP not the required 16 HCP for a response to a weak 2.

Mark:

Normally, I would not recommend opening a weak 2 in a major holding 4 to an honor in the other major. The spades are so nice, and the hand is just shy of the 20 (HCP + 2 longest suits) that would make it a 1 spade opener, that I think there are solid players that would choose to open 2 spades or stretch to open 1 spade. That's a hard hand to pass. 

If you open 1 spade, you are likely, not sure, to end in game. partner has 12HCP, but a misfit. With extremely favorable breaks in all suits, you have a slight chance to make 4 spades if the defenders slip up.

 As long as the opening lead is a diamond and they keep leading diamonds at every chance, you are lucky to make 3 spades. Notice that clubs set up after 1 ruff, but you have no way to reach those good clubs for heart discards.

If defenders never initiate leading hearts, which they cannot be forced to do until they have the setting trick, declarer always loses 3 hearts and the king of spades. Defenders must have made a mistake and led hearts when they could have led diamonds safely. In this case, the 2 spade opening works better than 1 spade, if the defense doesn't slip up. Take a bow for passing the south hand with less than 16 support points for 2 spades.