Opening bid, Unbalanced, Strong cards
The point of opening at the two level in a suit is to force your partner to reply. That way you won't accidentally miss a Game or a Slam.
See "How to reply".
| 26. Un-Balanced hand: Opener's bids (using Strong 2s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCPoints | Opening bid | 2nd bid | |||||||||||||||||||||
A good 6-card suit, or a 5-4 with a good 5-card AND 8 playing tricks AND 16-22HCP or rule of 25. (With any less bid 1 and jump later). "Good" means 2 honours. |
2 of the long suit, not  . Forcing. (Advanced players can use “Weak 2s”) |
Bid naturally. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 23+ with 9 playing tricks | 2 Forcing to game, unless followed by 2NT rebid |
Longest suit. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| reply to Strong 2 openings, suit choice for re-bid, Weak 2s, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Add to your customised cribsheet | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Note that your bid also guarantees at least a good 5-card suit, so your partner can support with only 3 cards. This is helpful, since you have reduced bidding space for a conversation on the subject of which suit to play, having opened at the 2 level.
Another useful guide to opening with a Strong 2 is the rule of 25.
(But not after 2NT)
Your partner is NOT forced to respond when you have a balanced hand & you open 2NT
The problem 4441 distribution
Because an opening bid at the two level promises 5 cards, it won't be possible for opener to bid at the 2 level with the 4441 distribution and 20-22 points. You'll have to open at the one level, and hope the auction doesn't stop there.
More advanced players use "Weak 2s"
More advanced players use a non-forcing opening bid of 2 of the Major suits 
to indicate a weak hand with a long suit, and use a forcing opening bid of 2 of the minor suits 
to indicate a strong hand, but in a slightly different way to the method outlined above. See Weak 2s.
Now try the quiz
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(You can try quizzes for any other subjects too while you're there. Look out for the thin red line).