The origin of this conventional defense method is unknown. This particular write-up was found online at Bobby Knows Bridge, a website, created by Mr. Martin Johnson, that allows the individual to play individual hands or participate in tournament bridge at a variety of levels.

Principle of the Concept

The Bishop conventional defense method was devised as an obstructive action in the form of overcalls following a strong Club opening bid such as Precision, the Polish Clubs, or Roman bidding systems.

Note: The student of bridge must be made aware that the Bishop conventional defense method belongs to the category of highly unusual conventions or the so-called HUM methods, which are generally not permitted at tournament events.

The structure of the overcall method is as follows, which includes explanations of the communicated information.

Opponent		Overcaller		Meaning
1				A strong Club opening bid promising a minimum of 15/16 points.
		Pass		A pass may be either strong with long Clubs, and otherwise promises a very weak holding with a 4-3-3-3 shape.
		Double		Promises 14 plus high card points and is similar to the generally accepted parameters of the takeout double.
		1		This is an exclusion-style overcall and promises at most two cards in the bid suit of Diamonds. Distribution is either 4-4-3-2, 4-4-4-1, or 4-4-5-0, whereby the 5-card suit is a Minor suit.
		1		This is an exclusion-style overcall and promises at most two cards in the bid suit of Hearts. Distribution is either 4-4-3-2, 4-4-4-1, or 4-4-5-0, whereby the 5-card suit is a Minor suit.
		1		This is an exclusion-style overcall and promises at most two cards in the bid suit of Spades. Distribution is either 4-4-3-2, 4-4-4-1, or 4-4-5-0, whereby the 5-card suit is a Minor suit.
				Note: All continuations to the overcalls of 2 Diamonds, 2 Hearts, and 2 Spades are as follows:
				1 : Shows the lowest playable suit , which may contain only 3 cards. 1 : Shows the lowest playable suit , which may contain only 3 cards. 1 NT: Viewed as constructive. 2 This is an forcing exclusion response. 2 : This is an forcing exclusion response. Cuebid: Any cuebid of the suit overcalled promises a strong cuebid. Other: All other bids and/or jump bids are considered natural and show an independent suit.
		1 NT		Promises a one-suited holding. The responses by the advancer are shown below All responses from 2 Clubs to and including 2 Spades promises a two-suited holding with a distribution of 5-4. The range of values is between 4-14 points.
				2 : The advancer can either pass or correct. 2 : Forcing, constructive, and inquires about the short suit of partner. 2 : Forcing, constructive, and inquires about the short suit of partner. 2 : Forcing, constructive, and inquires about the short suit of partner. 2 NT: Strong, asks partner to name his suit.
		2		Promises both Minor suits.
		2		Promises both Major suits.
		2		Promises Hearts and an unspecified Minor suit.
		2		Promises Spades and an unspecified Minor suit.
		2 NT		Promises a holding with a 6-5 distribution in any two suits.
		3		Any rebid on the three level shows a weak one-suited holding in the Club suit.
		3		Any rebid on the three level shows a weak one-suited holding in the Diamond suit.
		3		Any rebid on the three level shows a weak one-suited holding in the Heart suit.
		3		Any rebid on the three level shows a weak one-suited holding in the Spade suit.
		3 NT		Promises a solid Minor suit, and all continuations are according to the Gambling 3 NT conventional method.
		4		Promises a disciplined overcall in Hearts.
		4		Promises a disciplined overcall in Spades.
		4		Completely preemptive in Hearts with weak values.
		4		Completely preemptive in Spades with weak values.

 

 

In conclusion, it must be noted that Weak Two Bids are more or less a gut-feeling bid, if you are the dealer. However, using the above guidelines to direct you, you and your partner will come to a prearranged Partnership Agreement. Weak Two Bids are also very obstructive to the opponents. They can also present a preempt of the partner, and without a pre-agreed Partnership Agreement, the best contract will generally not be reached. Remember above all else that vulnerability and position at the bridge table should be the deciding factors before making any Weak Two Bid. Any one of the different methods above regarding the bid of the responder can be applied and included in the Partnership Agreement. Both partners should prepare some practice hands and experiment with the different methods, and then decide upon their use.