[EugeneLS]

I guess this counts as an 'interesting' if not freak hand:

♠ AKQJT864
♥ K
♦ KJ
♣ K3

I was second to bid after a pass, love all, playing Acol. I thought 1♠ was a bit tame and 4♠ not to be thought of. So after a lot of thought I opened 2♣.

As things turned out partner responded with an immediate blackwood, and once I showed my A they went for 6NT which I passed. Since partner had the three missing aces 7NT was laydown. Looking at the traveller, four tables reached the grand slam in NT or ♠, several stopped at six, others languished in 4. We just about scored a plus...

What would you have called?

[DavidKok]

2♣ is fine, I think a case can be made for 1♠ as well but both options should work out. Note that choosing to open 2♣ caters to partner having a (very) weak hand - you are supposed to be fine either way if partner has some values.

Over 2♣ I do not have a way to bid Blackwood. It sounds like your partner immediately jumped to 4NT. This is a common mistake, not only taking away all your bidding space (and with it the room to describe your hand), but also having no idea of a source of tricks. Partner, holding three aces, should instead bid slowly and let opener describe the hand and set trumps, in the hope that opener will bid Blackwood. That way the partnership will know about both the ability to take tricks and the combined number of key cards.

Here partner made a second mistake of not informing you that all aces/key cards were held over 4NT. Partner had a second chance to correct the terrible bid by asking you for kings or extra values, after which you can deduce that the partnership has 13 tricks from your own hand.

In general I would forbid partners from jumping on strong auctions, and to play 4NT-with-a-jump as something other than Blackwood. I'm afraid people, especially those new to the game, really love jumping to 4NT to show slam interest. It might even be out of a form of panic - it's the first (and often only) slam gadget people know, so some players tend to equate 'I am interested in slam' with 'I must bid 4NT, right here, right now'. There's usually no way to recover from that. Expect to keep struggling with slam bidding as long as you or your partner has this habit.

[pescetom]

I fully agree.
Although, ironically, I might immediately bid 4NT here.
Not as Responder, but as Opener (and yes, I would regret it if partner has only hearts Ace).

[EugeneLS]

Thanks for replies. I agree: I think any bid over 2♣ except 2♦ (or 2♦/2♥ if playing Benji) must be game-forcing. If partner responds 2NT that gives me all the space I need!

[pescetom]

 EugeneLS, on 2026-July-30, 05:56, said:

Thanks for replies. I agree: I think any bid over 2♣ except 2♦ (or 2♦/2♥ if playing Benji) must be game-forcing. If partner responds 2NT that gives me all the space I need!

Many of us think the 2NT quantitative response to 2♣ is not a good idea, particularly if you can handle a convention like Birthright to further differentiate Opener's balanced hand ranges. 2NT by partner does *not* give you all the space you need, in particular if you are unbalanced. It means you have to start describing your hand at 3 level. Nor is it sufficiently precise for you to decide the contract, even if you happen to be balanced. Now if you do play in NT, it is less likely to be at the correct level and you will also expose the strong hand as dummy. Better to dedicate the 2NT response to some harmless artificial bid such as both minors, IMHO.

[jillybean]

Agreed — and then there are those of us who don't play Birthright and use 2♦ waiting(Ace or King+) , 2♥ bust (no Ace or King) successfully.
Rarely, if ever, do we give a positive suit response to 2♣.

Let's just not assign any meaning to a 2nt response, please. I have found I am better off not filling up my Convention Card.

[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2026-July-30, 11:31, said:

Let's just not assign any meaning to a 2nt response, please.

Sabine Auken fabuluosly assigned "I don't want to play in this partnership any more"
I assign minors 5-5, which is basically damage avoidance but some day may happen.

jillybean, on 2026-July-30, 11:31, said:

I have found I am better off not filling up my Convention Card

That way c******* lies, as I know you well know.