[movingon]

The bidding goes

1 club Pass 2 hearts Pass
2 spades....

Is the 2 spade bid forcing?

(edited to indicate that the 2 heart bid is preemptive...)

[ArtK78]

I am going to assume that 2♥ was weak, otherwise the question makes no sense.

2♠ should be forcing. With a weak hand, opener would have no reason to bid a new suit unless he was wildly distributional, and I would not devise a system that caters to that hand. On the other hand, if opener has a very strong hand, he wants to search for the best game even opposite a weak hand with a long suit.

[billw55]

If 2♥ is a strong bid, then it should be game forcing and hence all bids below game, including 2♠, are forcing.

If 2♥ is weak, then I am not sure. 2♠ seems like it does not exist in this auction. Perhaps partner has a strong 6-5? At the table I would follow the principle: when in doubt, it's forcing.

[fromageGB]

Yes

[Siegmund]

Yes. Absent discussion I assume it means whatever a 2S response to a weak two means (except that it's very unlikely to be leading to a 5-3 fit.)

[neilkaz]

Forcing for me and showing a very good hand.

[aguahombre]

Different people seem to define the nature of the preemptive 2H bid differently. In our style, with 2H showing 6 hearts and LESS than the values for a 1H response, 2S would be forcing but something designed to torture partner and accomplish nothing. In other words, it wouldn't exist.

[bluechip10]

movingon, on 2014-July-15, 12:49, said:

The bidding goes

1 club Pass 2 hearts Pass
2 spades....

Is the 2 spade bid forcing?

(edited to indicate that the 2 heart bid is preemptive...)

I play it forcing. Really no different than the RONF rule for opening weak 2 bids I've been using. Obviously, the 2sp bid denies support (singleton or void in ♥). Responder will either support spades with 3 or more or rebid her suit. A new suit bid by responder, I believe requires partnership agreement.

[kenrexford]

bluechip10, on 2014-July-16, 09:32, said:

Obviously, the 2sp bid denies support (singleton or void in ♥).

♠AKJx ♥AQx ♦x ♣Axxxx opposite

♠Qxx ♥Kxxxxx ♦xxx ♣x


With this hand as Opener, a natural and forcing 2♠ seems to make perfect sense. A splinter would have focused Responder on the potential club Queen. A spade bid and then heart slam move establishes the pattern (short diamonds) and focuses the spade suit as the source of need.

[atlantajon]

movingon, on 2014-July-15, 12:49, said:

The bidding goes

1 club Pass 2 hearts Pass
2 spades....

Is the 2 spade bid forcing?

(edited to indicate that the 2 heart bid is preemptive...)

Well it is clearly shape showing. 2♥ is a weak hand that is of little or no value unless played in hearts. So, with that in mind, the only reason to find a different strain would be extreme shape by opener. Therefore it is not forcing... if the responder likes ♠ better than ♣ he can pass. The opener had other options to show a strong 2 suited hand. a jump-reverse would be the 2 suited 19+ hand. 1♣ ... 2♥... 3♠... is a game going call. 2♠ is likely a 6-5 hand with 0 ♥. For those that think it is a splinter... Slam opposite a weak 2 heart response is not very reasonable.

[ArtK78]

atlantajon, on 2014-July-16, 13:52, said:

Well it is clearly shape showing. 2♥ is a weak hand that is of little or no value unless played in hearts. So, with that in mind, the only reason to find a different strain would be extreme shape by opener. Therefore it is not forcing... if the responder likes ♠ better than ♣ he can pass. The opener had other options to show a strong 2 suited hand. a jump-reverse would be the 2 suited 19+ hand. 1♣ ... 2♥... 3♠... is a game going call. 2♠ is likely a 6-5 hand with 0 ♥. For those that think it is a splinter... Slam opposite a weak 2 heart response is not very reasonable.

Suppose the 5 in your 6-5 hand is hearts. Now is slam reasonable? For example, suppose you pick up:
Kx AJxxx --- AKxxxx

You open 1♣ and partner bids 2♥ weak. Do you think you can make a slam?

[ggwhiz]

ArtK78, on 2014-July-16, 14:07, said:

Suppose the 5 in your 6-5 hand is hearts. Now is slam reasonable? For example, suppose you pick up:
Kx AJxxx --- AKxxxx

You open 1♣ and partner bids 2♥ weak. Do you think you can make a slam?

I bid 6♥ a long time ago on those cards. 2♠ is a forcing game try in something other than hearts.

[ArtK78]

ggwhiz, on 2014-July-16, 15:05, said:

I bid 6♥ a long time ago on those cards. 2♠ is a forcing game try in something other than hearts.

I did not mean to imply that I would bid 2♠ on these cards - I was merely trying to explain that making a slam opposite a weak jump shift is not necessarily unreasonable.

[PhilKing]

ArtK78, on 2014-July-16, 14:07, said:

Suppose the 5 in your 6-5 hand is hearts. Now is slam reasonable? For example, suppose you pick up:
Kx AJxxx --- AKxxxx

You open 1♣ and partner bids 2♥ weak. Do you think you can make a slam?

You know there is a 0.001% chance that the oppo have both passed, right?

[operator]

movingon, on 2014-July-15, 12:49, said:

The bidding goes

1 club Pass 2 hearts Pass
2 spades....

Is the 2 spade bid forcing?

(edited to indicate that the 2 heart bid is preemptive...)

No matter what 2H is, 2S is (or should be) 100% forcing...

[the hog]

Agree with 99% of the posters. 2S is clearly forcing and shows a really good hand.

[mcphee]

How can it make any sense for it to be NF?

[helene_t]

mcphee, on 2014-July-18, 02:44, said:

How can it make any sense for it to be NF?

With a 5026 it would be nice to able to make a nonforcing 2♠. You will rarely be strong enough to force to game and maybe you should just pass 2♥ if you have no interest in game. But you could have a hand with which you want to be in 4♠ or 5♣ if p has anything useful at all.

Probably 2♠ should be forcing, though, and in any case it obviously is forcing without agreements to the contrary.

[BruceZhu]

2♠should be forcing, because opener should have a strong hand and a heart singleton/void to keep the bidding alive outside of a heart contract.If 2♥was strong, it would definately be forcing.

[whereagles]

I like that

1x 1y
1z

is limited to 17 H. This puts a narrow range into

1x 1y
2z

i.e. 18-21 or thereabouts.