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Two Over One Game Force (2/1) What It Is And What It Isnt
A word of explanation first. This is a definition of what the system is and
what it is not because there are a number of misunderstandings in this area.
This is not an article on how to play 2/1 (altho a lot can be inferred just by
knowing what the basics of the system are and you can develop your 2/1
system just from this).
This bidding system is in common use in the United States but is not yet terribly common in the rest of the world (as of 2012) altho it is catching on, especially at the top level. Saying I play 2/1 is similar to saying I play Acol
or I play Standard American not definitive of exactly what you play but it
does set a framework or general approach.
I. What It Is
A system can be called 2/1 if it meets two criteria and two only:
1. The response of 1NT to 1H or 1S is forcing (note: this, of course, says 5
card majors too) and
2. The Two Over One suit response is either: forcing to game (Hardy-style)
or forcing to game unless responder rebids his/her suit (Lawrence-style).
No more and no less.
The argument for the forcing NT (this is an invention of Alvin Roth who
also invented 5 card majors, the negative double, the unusual NT, and maybe
even the precursor of 2/1 and was probably the finest bidding theorist the
world has ever seen) is that, if responder has 2 cards in the major opened, a
contract of 2 of that major, even if only a 5-2 fit, is at least as good a contract
as 1NT (analogous to the weak transfer to a major you are often willing to
risk a 5-2 fit there too) and that will often be responders rebid if opener rebids a new suit at the 2 level without reversing. If the responder has a
singleton or void in the opened suit (with three or more, you would usually
raise or make a Two Over One response), the hand most likely belongs in a
suit contract in some other suit and not 1NT (altho 1NT will sometimes
score better than two of a suit, two of a suit will be the better contract at least
as often in MPS and is generally better in IMPS) and the 1NT forcing mechanism is likely to get you to a contract thats quite playable. The forcing NT
should normally be used on any responding hand, except raises, of 6-12
points.

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Openers rebid over a forcing NT response can be to repeat the major if its
at least 6 cards long and the opener cant envision a game in the hand (is relatively minimum), a 4 card heart suit (if the opening was 1S), or a 3 (yes, 3)
card minor as well as the strong jump shifts or an invitational rebid of a
jump to 3 of the major or an invitational rebid of 2NT. If responder has a
balanced hand of a good 10-12 points, he/she can rebid 2NT (rather than the
direct 2NT ala Acol without Jacoby 2NT) over a 2 of a suit rebid by opener.
This, of course, isnt forcing.
A rebid by responder (immediately after 1NT and openers rebid at the two
level) of a new suit isnt forcing either and opener should not raise unless
there still might be a game in the hand (this is much more likely if responders next response is 2H than if its a minor at the two or three level)
this re-response shows a minimum of 5 cards in the suit altho its probably 6
or more, especially in a minor.
The Two Over One response in a suit (from which the system got its name)
allows very intricate investigation of slam. For example, in the auction 1S
2C; 2D 2S, the hand is forced to at least 4S but, if either side is the least bit
interested in slam (in fact, according to the principle of fast arrival which is
used frequently in 2/1, a bid of 2S is stronger than a bid of 3S altho both
force to 4S), a cue bid at the three level can be made (or possibly something
else depending on partnership understanding). Opener also can use the principle of fast arrival, as mentioned above, so, for example, 1S 2C; 2D 2S;
4S is weaker than 3S (it doesnt deny the possibility of a slam, it simply says
Ive got a poorish opening hand but responder can carry on if very strong).
Opener is not expected to exceed two of his/her suit with a minimum hand
except possibly with 2NT (a small balanced hand) and then only when playing a strong NT (note: when playing the weak NT, opener never exceeds two
of his/her suit with a minimum hand whether the response was 1NT, a two
over one, or 1S over 1H). However, you can make it a rule that even the
small balanced hand with 5 cards in the major will also never exceed 2 of the
opened suit even when playing the strong NT and that really isnt misrepresenting your hand at all you have a minimum hand and nothing else to bid
below 2 of the major. Note that: 1. Openers rebidding the opened major
doesnt guarantee that he/she has a minimum or 6 or more cards in the suit,
just that there is nothing else to rebid (but it will usually be a fairly minimal
sort of hand) and 2. Even if you are playing Lawrence-style, a 2/1 becomes
forcing to game when opener shows more than a minimum by his/her 2nd
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bid. As an example: 1H 2C; 2S 3C is still forcing to game playing
Lawrence-style even tho responder has rebid his/her suit because opener
showed extra strength by the reverse (opener could pass in the auction 1H
2C; 2H 3C or even 1H - 2C; 2D - 3C).
II. What It Isnt
Two Over One Game Force dictates nothing about the range of the opening
NT (altho its usually played with one of 15-17 high card points and a balanced hand. It is, after all, an improvement on Standard American and the
thought was to start with Standard American and then add the improvements).
It does not necessarily use Inverted Minors altho it's usually played that way.
Some people think Inverted Minors are easier to use if played with the weak
NT.
The opening two of a suit bids dont necessarily have to be the Standard
American bids where 2C is the only strong bid and the other three suits are
weak 2s. You could, if you so desired, play 2/1 with the traditional Acol
Strong Twos (altho why youd want to is a mystery), or you could use the
Benji (or Reverse Benji) two bids, or something altogether different.
It also doesnt require you to use 2NT to show 20-21 HCP (High Card
Points) in a balanced hand altho, being based on Standard American, its
usually played that way. It can, for example, use 21-22 HCP instead or it can
use it for whatever purpose suits you (as long as its a very strong balanced
hand because that bid is needed to fill in the NT bids unless you use Benji
two bids when both 2C and 2D can also have NT ranges so an opening 2NT
will then be freed up for something else).
It also does not necessarily use weak jump responses to one of a suit. The
original Two Over One system was popularized by Max Hardy (altho it was
invented by Richard Walsh) and he liked weak jump responses but he specifically says that theyre not part of the system. Mike Lawrence modified
the system slightly as mentioned above and to use the standard, rock-crusher
jump shift by responder (because, as he said, Im not fond of the preemptive
jump shift and he likes the other responses to be limited by the jump shift).

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One other thing it doesnt necessarily include is light 3rd seat openings or 5
card majors in 1st or 2nd position that might only be 4 cards in 3rd or 4th position altho you can play it that way if you wish. Incidentally, Edgar Kaplan
has an excellent presentation of light 3rd hand openings in his book about the
Kaplan-Sheinwold System (he didnt believe they should be made in one of
a suit but he advocated slightly unusual weak twos in 3rd seat and also said
that the requirements for the weak NT could be lowered in this situation).
Some of these things were in some versions of Hardy-style and not in others
so are not necessarily an integral part of the system but the two criteria
above are common to both Hardy-style (in all of its incarnations) and
Lawrence-style.

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III. What Can You Expect if You Agree to Play 2/1 with someone
You can certainly expect that youll be playing the basics of the system the
forcing NT (which says 5 card majors) and the Two Over One responses as
forcing to game or forcing to game unless responder rebids his/her suit (except when opener shows more than a minimum by his/her rebid in which
case its always forcing to game). In fact, the basic thing to agree with partner is do you play Hardy-style which few people in America do now or
do you play Lawrence-style - Mike Lawrences improvements or do you
play either of the styles except - or do you play something different?
If you play Hardy-style, you can expect that Two Over One responses to all
opening bids of 1 of a suit are unconditionally forcing to game (defined as
forcing to 3NT, 4 of a suit, or penalizing the opponents) regardless of the
opening suit, a strong NT of 15-17 HCP, Inverted Minors, Standard American two bids (strong 2C and 3 weak 2s), and weak jump responses.
If you play Lawrence-style, you can expect that Two Over One responses to
all opening bids of 1 of a suit are forcing to game unless responder rebids
his/her suit (altho see above), a strong NT of 15-17 HCP, Inverted Minors
(altho Mike Lawrence doesnt mention them in his book), Standard American two bids, and strong jump responses.
Regardless of the style, you are most likely playing Jacoby 2NT the 2NT
response over 1 of a major doesnt make any sense as the invitational to 3NT
bid that it normally is in Acol or modern Standard American (if either is not
using a special-meaning 2NT response to 1H or 1S).

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IV. Is it complicated?
No but you can make it as complicated as you wish, as is the case with
most bidding systems. Almost everything is logical once the basic principles
of the bidding system have been laid out (like with almost all decent bidding
systems). Its not necessary to have many predefined sequences any more
than it is with Acol or Standard American. Experienced players will see the
logic almost immediately and thats enough. So you can play a decent game
if you agree Hardy-style or, maybe, a slightly better one if you agree
Lawrence-style its only a little more complicated if you pick and choose.
If you have a long-term partner, youd probably want to clarify at least some
of the sequences further.

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V. Possible systems not pure Hardy-style or Lawrence-style (note: these are

just two of the many possibilities);
The two systems presented here have eight things in common:
1.
The Two Over One responses are absolutely forcing to game only
over 1H and 1S
2. 2C over 1D (which Mike Lawrence tactfully calls the the black sheep
of the Two-Over-One System) should probably not be part of the system
and should be played pretty much as in Standard American (or Acol)
3. The Edgar Kaplan modification to the strong 2C making it forcing only
for two rounds if partner makes two negative responses (however you
define them - these systems use 2NT over 2H and 2S and the cheapest
suit over 3C and 3D rebids by opener) and opener rebids his/her suit
4. Weak twos in Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades (altho you can make the 2D
bid like the Roman 2D, or anything else for that matter, if so inclined,
altho there is a good argument that 2D is the most effective of the weak
2s)
5. Mini-splinters so any single jump shift is shortness in that suit, 4+ card
support, and at least invitational values. Opener simply rebids 3 of his/her
suit if he/she thinks there is no play for game if responder has the invitational strength hand (the basic idea is exactly the same as normal splinters which are used to find fit slams only here the first idea is to find fit
games so some people will only use them over major suit openings and
that does seem to make some sense. So you can play mini-splinters over
1H or 1S and the traditional rock-crusher jump shift over 1C or 1D.) I
dont have enough experience with this to really determine which is
preferable altho I have a feeling that mini-splinters over a minor might
pinpoint a weakness for 3NT and might also reach some very good minor
suit slams).
6. Vanilla Jacoby 2NT so a rebid of 4 of the major is the worst possible
hand you could have to open 1 of the major, 3 of a new suit shows shortness in the suit, 4 of a new suit shows a 2nd, and decent, 5+ card suit
(QJxxx or better), a rebid of 3NT shows a better than absolutely minimum hand (or else youd bid 4 of the major) but not a really good one, and
a rebid of 3 of the major shows a good hand (both 3NT and 3 of the major deny a short suit or a good 2nd suit). Note: this treatment can incorporate the meaning of normal splinters freeing them up for another use.

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7. Responses to 1NT are: 2C = normal Stayman; 2D and 2H = transfers to
2H and 2S respectively; 2S = McKendrick (an invitational hand in NT, a
weak hand with a 6 card minor, and, possibly, if partner agrees, a strong
hand, perhaps balanced) and opener rebids 2NT with a minimum (a hand
that would pass an invite by a normal 2NT) or 3C with a maximum. Over
2NT, responder passes, corrects to 3C or 3D or bids 3H or 3S with a 4
card major or 3NT without one - over 3C, responder passes or corrects to
3D or bids 3H or 3S with a 4 card major or 3NT with the invitational
hand (and the strong hand if its clear that the partnership doesnt have a
slam - note: the re-responses with a strong hand should be looked at carefully - these are merely some ideas); 2NT = minor-suit Stayman; and 3 of
a suit bid = to be determined.
8. Opener, after a two over one response over 1H or 1S, will never exceed
two of his/her suit with a minimum hand. Remember that a rebid of two
of the suit, regardless of the range of the opening NT, does not show
more than 5 cards just that there is nothing else to bid - and that 2NT
can be the only exception to the rules of not exceeding 2 of your suit as
opener with a minimum hand and then only if you are playing a strong
NT. But, as mentioned above, even this exception can be eliminated if
you rebid 2 of the opened major even with the small balanced hand and
then there are no exceptions to the rule of not exceeding 2 of your original suit with a minimum hand. Remember that this does not say that, if
you rebid 2 of your suit, you have a really minimum hand just that, if you
go beyond it, you show extra strength, altho you will often have another
bid if youre truly not minimum.
Va. Two Over One based on the strong NT
The opening 1NT is 14-17 (instead of the normal 15-17) so the small balanced hand is really a small balanced hand its only 12 or 13 HCP. If playing minor suit raises as limit bids (normal for Acol all along and now for
modern Standard American as well), if you have the small balanced hand,
you should always pass (normally, at best you will have 13 HCP opposite a
flat 12 so the theoretic maximum is 25. A good rule is that, if you have a
minimum of 25 points, bid game but, if you have a maximum of 25 points,
play in a part score).
Inverted Minors dont seem to play well with a strong NT because, in this
case, the small balanced hand has to rebid 2NT (unless you make it very
complicated and you still might be too high) over an Inverted raise to 2 (or
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else theres just no good way to handle it) and that might well get you overboard so this system uses normal minor suit raises. So, actually, it uses limit
bids in all four suits and a limit 2NT over 1 of a minor.
The opening 2NT is 20-21 HCP, as in Standard American.
Vb. Two Over One based on the weak NT
Two Over One can also be thought of as an improvement on the Kaplan-Sheinwold System which was popular in America during the heyday of
Edgar Kaplan, one of the all-time great theorists and then one of the worlds
better players the Kaplan-Sheinwold System used a weak NT, 5 card majors, the forcing 1NT response to a one of a major, and Inverted Minors.
The opening 1NT is 12-14 HCP (as it often is in Acol).
Inverted minors.
The opening 2NT is 21-22 HCP (as it often is in Acol). A 15-18 HCP NT
type hand is handled by opening 1 of a suit and then rebidding the cheapest
NT and a 19-20 HCP NT type hand is handled by rebidding with a jump in
NT.

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VI. Getting to 2/1 from Standard American or Acol

Id strongly recommend that, at the start anyway, you use Two over One
over 1H or 1S only regardless of whether you use Standard American or
Acol and continue to use your current system over 1D or 1C (note: 1C is not
part of any version of 2/1).
The specific recommendation for these two systems is below but Id recommend that you try it out in other than a serious event. I would not expect
everyone to like it or to even want to try it even tho it provides a moderately
infrequent, but very clear, improvement in bidding accuracy (altho this advantage can be quite large when it happens).
VIa. Getting there from Standard American
Since 2/1 is quite similar to Standard American, the simplest way to migrate
is to use Standard American with the forcing 1NT response to 1H or 1S and
the two over one response to a suit as absolutely forcing to game (starting
with this aspect of Hardy-style is not a problem the bigger problem with
Hardy-style is the weak jump-shift response) and then, once you have the
structure down, decide if you want to use the Lawrence-style two over one
responses where a two over one response to one of a major is absolutely forcing to game unless responder rebids his/her suit or if opener rebids a suit
past his/her opening suit immediately after the 2/1 response.
You dont have to change your opening 1NT and its responses, your 2 or
higher bids, your 1C or 1D openings, or your raises.
VIb. Getting there from Acol
Its conceptually a little harder to migrate from Acol (unless you play Acol
with 5 card majors and 3 weak 2s when the upgrade path is very similar to
upgrading from Standard American) than from Standard American (which
makes sense bearing in mind the derivation of Two Over One).
The first real hurdle is to start using 5 card majors. This involves a shift in
thinking about the opening bid that is really not difficult to start using. Your
opening bid is now pretty much dictated by the system (not having a 5 card
major forces you to open 1C or 1D unless you have the criteria for a 1NT or
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higher bid). However, altho to a lesser extent, the principle of preparedness
still applies (you cant always follow it tho lets say you have a 4-4-4-1
hand with the singleton being in clubs you cant open 1H or 1S so must
open 1D and a 2C response will force you to lie about your hand somehow
in 4 card major Acol, this hand can be opened 1H or even 1S if the heart suit
is bad. Note: Standard American and Acol with 5 card majors have the same
problem). On the other hand, the distribution requirements for a reverse
arent as limiting you dont have to have more of the first bid suit than the
second (unless you have clubs and diamonds or hearts and spades and you
dont make a normal reverse if the suits are longer than 4 cards and the same
length) e.g., if you have AKx AJxx xx KQxx, you can open 1C and reverse
into 2H over 1S or 1NT) but, if you have AK x AJxxx KQxxx, youd open
1D and then rebid in clubs.
Once those points are clear, you can simply change your 1NT response to
1H or 1S to be forcing (opener rebidding a 3 card suit systemically takes
some getting used to and this is equally true for Standard American players)
and change the two over one response to 1H or 1S to be game-forcing. When
you have used that structure for a while, you can decide if you want to
change the 2/1 response to Lawrence-style. Note: you are quite free to continue to use the weak NT and this does make life simpler in some regards.
As with Standard American, you do not have to change your opening 1NT
and its responses, your 2 level or higher bids, your 1C or 1D openings, or
your raises (altho you no longer can be counted on for four card support to
raise a major 3 is enough because of the 5 card majors).

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VII. More information

If you are interested in more information, there are many books on the subject and a number of articles on the Internet or in bridge magazines. Mike
Lawrences book is almost a must its title is Mike Lawrences Workbook
on The Two Over One System. And experienced players with a regular partner will want to at least look into the Kaplan Inversion.

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