[jillybean]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-May-10, 11:44, said:

If you're going to open 2♣ on that sort of hand, at least rebid 3♠ and set the suit, partner cues 4♥, you know you have no club control and you play 4♠.

Similar mistake that I made in the OP

[WasWinM]

jillybean, on 2026-May-10, 11:50, said:

Similar mistake that I made in the OP

Another problem with opening 2C with a minor hand - you can't "jump" to 3 over partner's response to set trumps.

[johnu]

mikeh, on 2026-May-09, 06:19, said:

Pull a stunt like opening 2C with this hand, and get a good result against me and the TD is being called and you can kiss that good result away. I’d probably call even if you got the bad result a 2C opener deserves because I trust do not like players who take illegal actions.

If you are referring to this hand

Quote

this was the hand

5,void,A742,AKQ98632

That actually meets the requirements for a very strong hand under the ACBL Convention Chart snippet I posted earlier, so legal to open a strong 2♣.

Quote

“Very Strong”: A hand that contains:
i. at least 20 HCP; or
ii. at least 14 HCP and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands; or
iii. at least 5 Control Points and is within one trick of game assuming suits break evenly among the other hands.

Under iii, this hand has 5 control points, and has 10 tricks, 8 club tricks, ♦A, and the 4th diamond is a trick assuming the suit breaks evenly, which is 3=3=3 among the other 3 hands. 10 tricks is within 1 trick of a 5♣ game according to the convention charts.

Even something like
AKQJxxxx
J
x
QJ10

or

AKQxxxxxx
Q
Q
J10

meets the requirement for very strong under ii.

[jillybean]

WasWinM, on 2026-May-10, 15:28, said:

Another problem with opening 2C with a minor hand - you can't "jump" to 3 over partner's response to set trumps.

My problem here was that I bid 3nt , a take on "gambling 3nt", I guess (which I don't play)
If I had bid 5♣ we may not have a thread.

Serendipitously, there's a thread on that other site discussing "strong openings"

[pescetom]

 WasWinM, on 2026-May-10, 15:28, said:

Another problem with opening 2C with a minor hand - you can't "jump" to 3 over partner's response to set trumps.

You can (in effect, at least) in my partnerships: partner will never respond above 2S showing an unspecified strong suit (except with some precisely codified two-suited hands) and a 3m rebid is always single suited or with at most a 4 card major on the side (strong minor-either two-suited hands open 1 in suit, or take their chances as a single suit). 3m doesn't yet set trumps, a major fit can still be found. But it promises a strong long suit and now 4m by either side sets trumps and invites control-bidding.
Imperfect, but more effective than "natural" starting from 3 level in a minor.

[WasWinM]

pescetom, on 2026-May-12, 05:54, said:

You can (in effect, at least) in my partnerships: partner will never respond above 2S showing an unspecified strong suit (except with some precisely codified two-suited hands) and a 3m rebid is always single suited or with at most a 4 card major on the side (strong minor-either two-suited hands open 1 in suit, or take their chances as a single suit). 3m doesn't yet set trumps, a major fit can still be found. But it promises a strong long suit and now 4m by either side sets trumps and invites control-bidding.
Imperfect, but more effective than "natural" starting from 3 level in a minor.

(3m doesn't yet set trumps,)

So you're saying you can but you can't, at least not in the same sense as a major jump sets the suit without question or continued searching.
Of course there are always artificial means to solve problems, but they create a new set of problems. When Bob was alive, we played that 2C
was 9 tricks in a major, a strong nt, or 10 tricks in a minor. Maybe not the best but it was simple and we didn't have to guess, other than
to keep the bidding open over a 1-bid. :-))

[pescetom]

 WasWinM, on 2026-May-12, 10:30, said:

(3m doesn't yet set trumps,)

So you're saying you can but you can't, at least not in the same sense as a major jump sets the suit without question or continued searching.

Yes but it's almost the same situation as a major jump effectively, in that you still have a full round of control bidding below game. The advantage over normal developments is that if finding a major fit fails, you have clearly fixed trumps in the minor and Responder is making a control-bid, not a second natural bid at a hopelessly high level.

[mycroft]

I checked with my Laws guru (again, even if you can figure out who that is, don't bother them) because while it felt instinctively wrong, JohnU's analysis looked correct given the wording of "Very Strong".

I got an answer. "We indeed give credit for the fourth diamond. Ten tricks and 5 Control Points. Very Strong."

I shall be more careful in future, and thanks JohnU for the analysis.

(it's still a horrible 2♣ call, unless you're playing Precision.)