     The strong 2C Opening is used to show a hand with 22+ points or 81/2 playing tricks. It is the strongest bid available for partnerships who play Sayc or 2/1.     Responder's bids are subject to partnership agreement. Some play that a 2D response is waiting allowing opener to further describe his hand. I generally bid 2D unless I have a 5-card major with 2 of the top 3 honors. I make every effort NOT to bid 2nt as this can have the negative effect of wrong-siding the contract with the weak hand becoming declarer.     The opener's rebid will give more information to the partnership. It may show a suit or a balanced hand. With 22-24 Hcp, Opener will bid 2nt. With 25-27 he will bid 3nt. When the opener makes a rebid in notrump I play that all standard treatments apply (i.e. stayman, transfers).

    There must be an agreement relative to the game-forcing nature of an opening of 2C. I usually play that it is forcing to 3 of the opener's major and 4 of his minor and that a rebid of 2nt by the opener can be passed with a total bust hand. I have one partner who prefers to play it forcing to game.

     Another approach is to to bid 2H as a negative response. This denies any controls (no Ace or King) and alerts partner to the weakness of your hand.  When using this approach some partnerships reserve the "2nt" bid as way of showing a "positive" hand with a good heart suit.

    Another standard treatment is to use steps. Responder will bid artifically to indicate his point count or controls.        For example: 2D=0-3 points        2H= 4-6 points      2S= 7-9points         2nt= 10+points

Hand 1

Partner	JT54 9 985 JT532

	AQ9 KQT752 AK4 A

North	East	South	West
	Pass	2C	Pass
2D	Pass	2H	Pass
3C	Pass	3H	Pass

You open a strong 2C and your partner bids 2D (waiting). You then bid your major suit. This partnership has agreed to play that a 2D waiting bid followed by 3C (the cheapest minor) is a negative bid.

With a 6-card suit, you rebid your major and your partner passes.

With a bust hand 2C is forcing to 3 of the opener's major and not to game.

Note: Some do play a 2C opener is forcing to game -- this is a partnership agreement which some of my partners prefer.

Hand 2

Partner JT54
KJ86
983
87

AQ9
AQ972
AK7
A9

North

East

South

West

-

Pass

2C

Pass

2D

Pass

2H

Pass

4H

Pass

Pass

Pass

You open a strong 2C and your partner bids 2D waiting.You then bid 2H to show your 5-card major and your partner with minimum values but nice heart support jumps to 4H. This places the contract.

A bid of 3H by North is "stronger" and shows slam interest.

This is an example of the principle of
"FAST ARRIVAL"

Hand 3

Partner QT54
J8
AK542
98

AJ87
AKQ97
Q
AQT

North

East

South

West

-

Pass

2C

Pass

2D

Pass

2H

Pass

3D

Pass

3S

Pass

4nt

Pass

5S

Pass

6S

Pass

Pass

Pass

You open a Strong 2C and your partner bids 2D waiting. You then bid your 5-card major. Partner responds by bidding
an encouraging 3D. You decide to bid Spades to further describe your hand.

This makes partner happy, she re-evaluates her hand and decides to ask for aces by bidding 4nt (Blackwood). A slam in spades is bid.

REFERENCES: Karen's Bridge Page Bridge7 Web Site Quiz on the Strong 2C Bid More Examples