Conventions Basics

Conventions

There are quite a few conventions used in a complete Two Over One system.

Why So Many? They're necessary because Standard American bidding was not designed for modern competitive play and it has some weaknesses. Generally, you can pick those you feel comfortable with and include them one at a time as you gain experience.

(All the conventions described here are used as we play 2 Over 1. There are many others that we don't use; some players use these conventions differently and our list changes occasionally. There are other versions of some of these conventions, too. However, 90% of the Two Over One players you will run into will play these conventions and will play them as described in this section.)

Required Conventions in Two Over One

There are some conventions you must use to play Two Over One: Two Over One Forcing to Game is the obvious one. 1NT Forcing for one round is a necessary addition for all responder hands which can't force to game. Others are so common among advanced players as to be virtually required; for example, Weak Twos and Jacoby Transfers and Negative Doubles.

Finally, the optional ones you can add when you are comfortable with the required ones: Michaels and Maximal Doubles and many others. Some are offensive, some competitive and a few are obstructive.

Always a Tradeoff. If the reason for any particular convention seems obscure to you, recall that each is designed to remedy some flaw in Standard American and generally advances the basic philosophy of Two Over One, which is 'bid slowly with strength and preempt quickly with weakness'. Standard American often jumps with strength, thereby taking up your own bidding space. Two Over One players do the opposite --we jump with weakness to obstruct the opponents, not the partnership.

About This Section of the Series. In this section is a detailed description of the situation each convention is designed to address; the strength requirements for using it; the usage - common or rare - and its 'alert-ability'. Also, examples and typical bidding sequences are provided. In addition, in Two Over One and in Bidding in Competition, you will find descriptions of them in context of the bidding sequences they are most often associated with. For example, you will find additional information on Jacoby Transfers in the Opening Notrump section of the Two Over One section.

THE COMMON 2 OVER 1 CONVENTIONS

The common conventions used in Two Over One are:

Five Card Majors                     Limit Raises

Negative Double                      Strong Two Clubs Opening

1NT Forcing For One round      Weak Jump Overcalls

Weak Twos                              Two Over One Game force