the suit. However it also licenses conventions to enquire how many of these are held. History A prototype of the weak two was used in auction bridge, and the principle was attested as early as 1910 by J.B. Elwell. It was incorporated into the Vanderbilt Club system. In early 1940s, Howard Schenken developed the modern weak two-bid along lines similar to Vanderbilt's. In Charles Goren's original bidding system, when a player opened the bidding with two of a suit, this signified that the player held a very strong hand. (This later became known as the strong two bid.) Later players found it more effective to reserve only the conventional two clubs opening, to show a strong hand. That left the room for opening bids of 2D, 2H, or 2S to show a weak hand with a six-card suit. This became known as the weak two bid. In some systems, a bid of 2C shows a strong hand with a five-card suit, and a bid of 2D shows a hand that is similarly strong, but balanced. These alternate versions are less common. Responses Standard American responses to weak twos are as follows... A raise of the bid suit extends the preempt, and is to play. The weak two bidder does not bid again. A bid of 2NT is 17+ artificial forcing enquiry. A new suit is forcing and at least invitational. This is known as RONF for raise only non-forcing bid. After a 2NT enquiry. A bid of three of any suit other than the suit of the "weak two" bid shows a "feature" (typically either an ace or a king) in the named suit and maximum. A bid of three of the suit of the "weak two" bid denies a "feature" in any other suit and is minimum. A bid of 3NT shows a maximum without a feature. Common Variations New suit shows a stop for NT. Weak Pulls A new suit at the lowest level shows a weak hand with a long suit and is to play. Ogust When using the Ogust convention, the following alertable responses apply: 3C shows a "minimum" hand and a "poor" suit. 3D shows a "minimum" hand and a "good" suit. 3H shows a "maximum" hand and a "poor" suit. 3S shows a "maximum" hand and a "good" suit. 3NT shows A-K-Q of the preempt suit. Here, the definitions of "minimum" and "maximum" hands