Multi Two Diamonds
- demystified

Emanuel Unge

2024-02-08

As the Multi 2 convention becomes more common in bridge, it's important to know how it works, even if you don't use it yourself. This article will help you understand this convention, teaching you both how to play it and how to defend against it. We'll break down the key points of Multi Two Diamonds in a way that's easy to understand, so you can be ready for it in your next game.

What is Multi 2?

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The Multi 2 convention in bridge is a tool used to convey a range of hand types with just a single bid. This convention typically indicates a hand with a 6 card major suit (either hearts or spades) and a weak overall hand, usually within the 5-10 high card point range. The ambiguity of the bid makes it challenging for opponents to defend.

While the base of the convention is the weak major hand, there are numerous variants in play, each adding its unique twist. Some versions include hands with 4441 shapes, strong balanced hands, or even strong hands featuring a long diamond suit. Despite these variations, they all pivot around the core concept of a weak major suit. The important thing to remember is that the most common scenario is a weak major suit hand, and that is what we will focus on in this article.

The bid basically shows a normal weak 2, but you are not disclosing which suit you have.

Thus you could have either one of these hands:

Responding

You typically have a few situations when responding to the convention.

• You just want to play partner's suit on the 2 level.
• If partner has the correct suit, you can compete higher.
• Regardless of suit, you want to jump to game, either to make or just preemptively.
• You want to find another game, like 3NT.
• You have a monster, and looking for slam.

Now, how do you untangle these situations when you don't know what partner has?

Pass or Correct

This method will be used a lot in this convention. You bid a major suit, with the intention to play there if partner's hand has that suit. If partner does not have that suit, they will bid again, revealing their hand.

The above action should be taken when you have no interest in game, and you have no great fit for partner that would enable a preemptive option.

But imagine a hand like

When you pick up this hand and your partner opens Multi 2, you expect them to have spades, of course. But if they have hearts, you are ready to compete, perhaps even to the 4-level. Now you bid 2 which is also Pass/Correct!
2 promises some kind of heart fit (you are forcing partner to 3rd level) whilst 2 does not promise a spade fit.

Note here the usage of 2NT to show hearts. This is a common treatment, as you probably want the responder to be declarer. Opener has already shown their hand with the bidding, and likely does not need protecting too many honors anyway.

Test your knowledge

Strong Responder

If you have your own suit, or you are interested in 3NT or maybe some slam, you can bid 2NT to query partner. Here, you can find many variants. I will tell you what I play:

• 3 - I have a maximum hand, could still be either spades or hearts.
  • 3 - Ok, bid the one you don't have.
    • 3 - I have spades
    • 3 - I have hearts
• 3 - I have a bad hand with hearts.
• 3 - I have a bad hand with spades.

As you can see, the idea is that regardless of what partner has, the stronger hand will be the declarer. If partner is weak, they will transfer to their suit, and if they are strong, they will start by bidding 3 and then bid suit they don't have.

If you have your own minor suit, and a strong hand, you can bid 3m as forcing.

One rare, but tricky, scenario is when you have an amazing spade or heart hand. What should you do? Bidding 2M is P/C.

As you can imagine, there is a very tiny risk partner actually has spades and passes. Here is an example auction:

Preempts

The next scenario is when you, as the responder, have intentions of going high with one or both suits. Perhaps you are interested in game if partner has hearts. Perhaps you want to preempt the opponents no matter what suit partner has.

With this type of hand, you clearly would like to tell partner: "Hey, I have a great fit for you no matter what you have". This is a great opportunity to make life tough for the opponents.

You have a few options at your disposal:
• 3 - P/C. This hopefully makes sense from the previous section.
• 4 - "Transfer to your suit, please." Partner is commanded to bid 4 if they have hearts, and 4 if they have spades.
• 4 - "Bid your suit." Partner should simply bid their suit.

This can be very effective as the opponents still don't know what suit opener has (until next round of bidding) and the opponents don't know if you are strong or weak.

Defence

When you are defending against Multi 2 you typically assume they have a weak major hand, until shown otherwise. There are two main ways to defend:

Option 1 includes direct seat double to take out spades and bid 2 to take out hearts. The rest of the overcalls are natural.

Option 2's double is a balanced 13-15 HCP (or strong) and overcalls are natural. This is the method I prefer and is also the most common option amongst professionals, but you can go either way.

So, the first entry is kind of easy to remember, but there are some cases you should think about and agree with your partner, regardless of which method you choose.

1. Partner doubles and opponents pass

This might be a rare scenario, but usually it has one or two meanings, either east has diamonds or east wants west to bid their suit (pass/correct). If it's the former you can use 3 as a cuebid and if it's the latter you'd either wait for them to reveal their hand, or bid naturally.

2. Partner overcalls naturally

What does 3 show here? I would advocate for a good raise in spades, as it is more common that you have a fit than you both having a major each, considering west has a 6 card one.

Same goes here. You definitely can play it either way, but it's very important to be on the same wavelength as partner or it might end up in disaster.

3. Wait and double

You first pass to double their major 2nd round.

Here I would suggest that it's a normal takeout.

Same here. But the main point of all of these is to decide something with your partner.

4. Double and double (option 2)

You first doubled to show 13-15 bal or strong, then you double again. This shows the strong option, typically 17+.

5. Double of 4-level bids

Opponents are making life tough for you. They jumped to 4 asking partner to transfer. Here you can either have X as showing clubs, or setting up a penalty double.

The point is to understand the difference between these two auctions. They might both be takeout doubles, or both penalty. Or perhaps the first double changed the meaning of the second.

Take away

It's important to understand the basics of defending against Multi 2. But mastering it is a whole different story. You need to be on the same page with your partner, go through the above mentioned scenarios and discuss them together. You can probably think of more interesting things that might come up when dealing with this pesky convention, and perhaps now you are interested in adding it to your arsenal.

Thank you for reading this article and I hope you learned something!
Please share it with your bridge friends!

Emanuel Unge

Founder of Cuebids