2nd Position

♣ ♥ ♠ ♦

Outline

This text is sectioned according to the nature of the RHOpponents opening bid:

1 of a suit natural
Alerted minor openings
A 1 NT opening

See Weak234 to handle pre-emptive type bids: 2X or 3X or 4X

1. Opponent opens with 1 of a suit - natural bid (neither alerted or strong)

There are a considerable number of options available, not to forget PASS!

T-O Double (12)13-15 with some support in unbid suits. Unbid majors must have ideally atleast 3 cards to an honour , unbid minors must have 'xxx' ideally however Hx is acceptable.
16+ a double is Mandatory, regardless of distribution, unless a more precise bid, eg very distributional hands listed below fits like a glove!
PASS. Nothing to say. Note: In this scheme of things, when holding strong defensive values in the opponents suit one is often obliged to PASS as Double is not at all appropriate and without a good suit of your own you might have no sound o'call. Best in this case to await any action taken by partner - preferably a PD which can be converted to penalties if this makes best sense.
Natural suit overcalls Usually a 5+ card at 1|2-level. At the 2-level at least 1 1/2 Quick tricks is desirable.These bids have a wide range. Partner should treat them as if they are a 3rd hand opening and should make maximum effort to make a support bid as partner may have reserve strength or bid his own best suit or even 1N if available. The overcaller must rebid with significant additional values.
Jump overcalls Shows a weakish hand & a 6+ card Major or minor suit: 6-12 DP values - less than a solid opening bid hand., vulnerability sensitive: NVul 8-12 DP, Vul 10-14(15) DP
2NT: Weak 2-suiter. Shows Highest & Lowest unbid suits at least 5-5
Cue-bid: Weak 2-suiter in highest 2 unbid suits 5-5 & 6-7LTC
A jump cue-bid in a minor only shows both Majors but stronger: 4-5LTC.
Jump minor cue-bid. Shows a strong 2-suited hand in the Major suits - The responder may use 3NT inquiry for distribution - see 3♣
3♣|♦: NOT a cue-bid: Strong 2suited 5-5 or better overcalls & 4-5LTC : The bid minor + highest unbid Major suit. The responder may use 3NT inquiry for distribution when sure of making a game is an option - see 3♣ otherwise select the suit and level to play
Pre-emptive double jumps in any new long suit. These are BREAK-OUTS by responder requires preferably a 7+ card suit
1NT: A 'multi' bid. Alertable & Forcing (8)9+ Shows at least 4 cards in the lowest unbid minor suit unless holding either a 7+ card 3-level intermediate value pre-empt OR a game going hand that would qualify for our 2♣ opening. Partner responds 2C if RHO passes or bids a new suit if RHO raises his partner's opening bid then Double shows (8)9+ HCP.

2-suited 5-5 in lowest 2 unbid suits.. Can be either weak or strong. Summary of possible meanings exposed by the rebid.2♥ shows a 4-5LTC and 3♣ shows a 6-7LTC
Strong 3-suited in the unbid suits: shown with a 2N rebid - partner selects, usually (15)16+. Shape can be 4441 or 5550
2♠ rebid shows a 9-12 intermediate strength semi-pre-empt with 7+ cards. Responder asks with 2N (forced bid) and the 1N overcaller then bids 3any in any unbid suit with intermediate values. Note: even in opener's suit if it had ben alerted as 'can be short'.
Strong 6-4 hands shown with direct rebids in 3♦|♥|♠ excluding opener's suit, that's 4 in the lowest unbid suit and 6+ in an unbid suit - Clubs excluded - at the 3-level.
2♦ direct rebid shows a 2♣ opening! with normal step responses. See our 2♣ opening bid for details.

2. Alerted minor opening bids

1♣ strong 16+ e.g.precision or any other strong club system
2♣ strong 23+ balanced as in ACOL or as in SAYC or 2/1 or Beta itself!

2♦ is used in the same way as 2♣ above and 2♣ instead caters for the equally out of date stong ACOL 2! by those who choose the 'old fashioned' Benjamised style as applied to ACOL and SEF. [This approach of using 2 strong bids is wasteful, out of all proportion to their frequency of occurrence - employed ostensibly to enable weak 2openings in Majors!]

1♣ short i.e alerted as possibly <= 2 cards - could be a 5 card Major version or even Beta where 1♣ can be as short as 2 cards.
1♦ short <=2 cards 12+ e.g. precision (12-15)
2♦ Multi usually 2 or 3-way. (Beta plays this useful convention: 3-way - the 3rd way is unique to Beta!)

Preferred Defences are listed below:

1 Club Strong 16+
Beta advocates use of TRAP strongly. This is very aggressive - as it needs to be!
If you still have a precision or similar system pair in your club - try it out! TRAP bids are 'transfer' bids
Essentially the idea is to rob them of their advantage of having more bidding room to manouver in and they will be less likely to double you in a 1|2 level contract when they have game potential
Pre-emptive bids with a good 7 card suit also make for excellent defence - unlikely to come unstuck!

2 Club Strong 23+ (or Benji 2♦)
Certainly more risk here - watch the vulnerabilities attentively!
Any intervention has a risk BUT when you disrupt their bidding and get a result it can be worth a great deal! Modern tendency shows an increase in such interventions.
interventions in 2nd postion or 4th position following a 'waiting' 2♦ relay. Any 7+ card suit or a strong 6 card suit are good options to disrupt to steal their bidding space. These can be applied at the 2 or 3-level...
Beta also uses a 2♣ strong opening: however beta has simple coded measures to handle any intervention!
Also Beta aims to indicate key card presence in the initial reply: that's Aces and Kings! instead of an automatic 'waiting' i say 'wasteful' 2♦! See Betas 2♣ opening
However a really good 3-level 7+ card pre-empt can provoke difficulties eliminating a whole level of opponents bidding.
More dubious are 2-suited overcalls at least 5-5 these can backfire as declarer with strong hands will have invaluable distributional information: Some use: *: ♣+♠; 2♦: ♦+♥; 2♥: ♥+♠; 2♠: ♠+♦; 2N: both minors. We don't advocate them over a 2♣ opening.
If 2♣ opening is showing a classical ACOL 2 Showing 2 suits can be a more effective defence. Consider the above schema. If 2♦ is the game force bid then best to attack with a long suit as for 2♣'s above

1 Club Alerted 12+ can be <=2 Cards
[Beta lies in this category! 2+ cards & strictly 12+HCP]
In defence our primary advice is to call 2♣ with good values & a good 5+ card Club suit! If you do not do this it can be very difficult to find a Club fit later on. On the downside 2♣ showing both majors is ruled out. On the other hand it also robs the opponents of any advantage that can be obtained with 1-level responses.
An artificial 1NT overcall is also likely to be an effective defence - likely to be based on 2 lowest unbid suits.
2NT remains for Spades-Diamonds. With both Majors we recommend showing the Hearts first - partner without Heart support will show spades if he posseses it.
{Note: Under consideration is calling 1♦ to show hearts and 1♥ to show spades as if your partner had opened 1♣!!! and 1♠ would show 10+ HCP ans deny any Major suit. 2♦ would show 5+ Diamonds and 11+ HCP and deny any Major}
Weak 6 card major jump o'calls are also effectivemake use of weak 2's.
3-level pre-empts with a 7 card suit are also likely to be effective.
However artificial 1♣ openings come in many guises - it pays to design your defence after understanding your opponents 1C opening and their responses!
Overcalls such as a double or simple 1-level overcalls tend to be ineffective and possibly even help the opponents!

[In the case of Beta, responder is not required to bid with 0-4HCP when lacking a 4+ card Major. Beta provides clear guidelines for all responses to 1♣. See our 1♣ opening for detailed information]

1 Diamond Alerted 12+ can be <=2 Cards
Same advice as for 1♣! above - For example bid 2♦ naturally with a 5+ card Diamond suit etc
Weak jump Major overcalls and an artificial 1N are also promising defensive tactics. 1♥|♠ are natural.

Overcall a Precision artificial 12-15 opening bids as follows: bid your shortage suit - can be met very effective with a 2♣! or 2♦ shortage bid! Consider a 1NT! showing minors;
1♠ could show a Strong balanced hand such as a 1NT 15-18. opening or a minor 2-suited hand!

2 Diamond Multi
Again Beta uses this opening itself effectively in a 3-way style.
Our advice be careful! The variety of what it may be can spell destruction for the interloper!
Still if you have a good 7+ card suit that can be effective!
Also 2 suited o'calls can be applied.

3. 1NT balanced opening (12-14 ...15-17 and all 3 point ranges in between

Note: Over 15-17 NT the following remains valid but when vulnerable exercise serious extra caution.
When non-vulnerable the risks are greatly reduced.

Note: When vulnerable - more distributional: e.g suits 5-4-3-1 or better
Our preferred 2nd position defence:
CDH & Rubinsohl
2

Shows 5+ card natural

*2*: T-O Double 15+ HCP may be passed ONLY when expecting penalties. Usually 6+ HCP.
Otherwise Partner's action with 2 suits (one a minor): CD: It is conventional now to bid 'up-the-line' - a wriggle may then take place if any bid is unacceptable (0-2 cards) in an attempt to get out in a higher ranking suit and hopefully a better fit. Wth 3+ card support partner's bid should be passed unless guaranteed a fit in any higher suit. Bidding should not pass 2NT except with a 6+ card suit. Note: a 4333 hand my require a 2♣ bid on 3 ca higher suitrds!
Single suited hands with a 5+ card Major may be bid directly in response of a T-O Double.

If RHO bids Redouble alerted (conventionally usually weakness asking for a 2♣ rebid which he may PASS or name his 5+ card suit.) PASS is the usual bid if preferring penalties. Otherwise bid 2 any as above.then PASS can be the best option unless holding a good quality suit which can now be shown naturally at the 2-level. If the redouble is natural (to play) Bid your 5+ card suit (taking out your partners double) or PASS with 6+ HCP