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Responding to 2NT opening bid

Question 1 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 13-HCP 10-loser hand

10 8 7 6 2
7 6 4
J 5 4 3
6

What should you bid ?

1. pass
2. 3 clubs
3. 3 diamonds
4. 3 hearts
5. 3 spades
6. 3 NT

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Answer 1 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 13-HCP 10-loser hand

10 8 7 6 2
7 6 4
J 5 4 3
6

What should you bid ?
( 1 ). pass

An opening bid of 2NT is NOT forcing, unlike an opening bid of 2 of a suit. There is no need for a weakness takeout after a 2NT opening - you are hardly weak with more than half the pack. In any case, there is no bidding space left for such a bid.

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Question 2 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 3-HCP 11-loser hand

10 8 7 6
7 6 4
K 5 4
10 6 2

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 3 clubs
3. 3 diamonds
4. 3 hearts
5. 3 spades
6. 3 NT

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Answer 2 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 3-HCP 11-loser hand

10 8 7 6
7 6 4
K 5 4
10 6 2

What should you bid ?
( 1 ). pass

A weak 1 NT opening bid needs 11 points to reply positively. Your partner has 8 extra points. That might make you think that you can reply positively to 2NT opening with only 3 points. But don't forget you have less bidding space, so there is no space to explore game. By supporting your partner you would be saying "you must bid again, game is on". Your hand needs to be stronger: in fact, experience shows that less than 4 is too risky. Your hand here is particularly weak; the hand is flat, and your points are in a short suit.

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Question 3 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 4-HCP 10-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6
7 6 2
10 6

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 3 clubs
3. 3 diamonds
4. 3 hearts
5. 3 spades
6. 3 NT

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Answer 3 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 4-HCP 10-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6
7 6 2
10 6

What should you bid ?
( 4 ). 3 hearts

You've got sufficient points to bid and you've got a 5-card suit in a Major, so you need to bid a suit. The answer assumes you and partner do NOT use Transfers. However, it would in fact MUCH better to use transfers, keeping the very powerful hand hidden from the enemy. Transfer players should bid one suit lower, 3 diamonds.
Note that your hand has minimum points for supporting, 4 points, but it's a good four: you've got a 5-card suit with three honours. If partner has a 3-card heart suit, then 4 hearts should be easy. If he does not, then you should go for 3 NT.

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Question 4 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 11-HCP 8-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6
7 6
A Q J

What should you bid ?
1. 3 clubs
2. 3 diamonds
3. 3 hearts
4. 3 spades
5. 3 NT
6. 4 clubs
7. 4 diamonds
8. 4 hearts
9. 4 spades
10. 4 NT

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Answer 4 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 11-HCP 8-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6
7 6
A Q J

What should you bid ?
( 3 ). 3 hearts

Slam in a suit is very likely, but your reply should still be at the 3 level, as if you had 4 points. Your reply will force partner to reply even if you didn't use transfers, as the answer suggests. So you'll be able to carry on bidding.
If you use transfers, bid 3 diamonds, then your next bid can explicitly explore Slam (cue bid or Blackwood), rather than bidding a game in Hearts or NT as you would if you had less than Slam going points.

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Question 5 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 4-HCP 8-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6 5
7
5 3 2

What should you bid ?
1. 3 clubs
2. 3 diamonds
3. 3 hearts
4. 3 spades
5. 3 NT
6. 4 clubs
7. 4 diamonds
8. 4 hearts
9. 4 spades
10. 4 NT

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Answer 5 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 4-HCP 8-loser hand

10 8 7
K J 10 9 6 5
7
5 3 2

What should you bid ?
( 8 ). 4 hearts

Slam is impossible, and game is very likely. Go straight to game in a Major.

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Question 6 (of 8 on this page)
You opened 2NT. The enemy did not bid. Partner replied 3 Hearts. You do not use transfers You have this 22-HCP 5.5-loser hand

K Q 8
A 8
A K 10 9
K Q J 7

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 3 spades
3. 3 NT
4. 4 clubs
5. 4 diamonds
6. 4 hearts
7. 4 spades
8. 4 NT

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Answer 6 (of 8 on this page)
You opened 2NT. The enemy did not bid. Partner replied 3 Hearts. You do not use transfers You have this 22-HCP 5.5-loser hand

K Q 8
A 8
A K 10 9
K Q J 7

What should you bid ?
( 3 ). 3 NT

You partner has 4 points or more and a 5+ card suit in Hearts. An 8-card fit is NOT assured, since you have a 2-card Heart suit, so you should switch to NT. Your partner will put it back into Hearts if he has a 6-card Heart suit.

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Question 7 (of 8 on this page)
You opened 2NT. The enemy did not bid. Partner replied 4 NT. You have this 22-HCP 5.5-loser hand

K Q 8
A 8
A K 10 9
K Q J 7

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 5 clubs
3. 5 diamonds
4. 5 hearts
5. 5 spades
6. 5 NT
7. 6 NT

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Answer 7 (of 8 on this page)
You opened 2NT. The enemy did not bid. Partner replied 4 NT. You have this 22-HCP 5.5-loser hand

K Q 8
A 8
A K 10 9
K Q J 7

What should you bid ?
( 7 ). 6 NT

You partner is inviting you to bid A small Slam if you are on your maximum. In other words he has 11-12 points. With 33 points, you can almost always make a NT slam, so get on with it.

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Question 8 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 5-HCP 10-loser hand

J 10 7 5
9 8 5
A 2
7 6 3 2

What should you bid?
1. pass
2. 3 clubs
3. 3 diamonds
4. 3 hearts
5. 3 spades
6. 3 NT

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Answer 8 (of 8 on this page)
Your partner opens 2NT. The enemy do not bid. You have this 5-HCP 10-loser hand

J 10 7 5
9 8 5
A 2
7 6 3 2

What should you bid?
( 2 ). 3 clubs

This is Stayman, promising at least one 4-card Major, and asking opener to tell you about his 4+ card Major suits. With 4 points or more and a 4-card Major you can explore whether it's best to play in a Major or in NT, since you have 24-26 HCP between you. In this case you have 25-27, so if opener comes back with 2 diamonds or Hearts, you can put it safely into 3 NT.
The deal, no. 30033, is shown on the right. Note that an inspired West can defeat the contract by leading his Ace of Hearts follwed by the 2.

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