The origin of these responses, this conventional response method, is unknown. The concept is that the responder is in a position to communicate specific information with the very first response. The only artificial and negative first response is 2 Diamonds. All other responses are natural and positive.

Note: The official designation is natural call, which means that the bid or call, which reflects the character of the holding, suggests a suitable final strain, and which does neither imply , nor indicate, nor signal an artificial, or even semi-artificial meaning, or slightly ambiguous meaning.

Natural Responses

This communicated information becomes important to the opening bidder, because the opening bidder can better visualize the holding of partner before continuing the bidding sequence. The only employed artificial bid following a strong, artificial 2 Clubs opening bid is the first response of 2 Diamonds, which is a negative bid showing values between 0-6/7 points.

Examples are not provided since the concept is self-explanatory. Any slam attempt is based on an established or inferred trump suit. The following schematic includes all bids up to and including the four level. All continuances following the first response by partner is per partnership agreement since natural responses only pertain to the immediate communication by the responder of certain attributes of his holding, such as values and shape.

Opener		Responder		Meaning
2				Artificial. Strong. Forcing.
		2		Artificial and negative showing fewer than 6/7 high card points.
		2		A suit at the lowest level shows a 5-card Heart suit plus with 7 plus high card points.
		2		A suit at the lowest level shows a 5-card Spade suit plus with 7 plus high card points.
		2 NT		Shows a balanced to semi-balanced holding with a range of 7 to 9 high card points, and no 5-card suit.
		3		Shows a minimum of a 5-card Club suit and 7 plus high card points.
		3		Shows a minimum of a 5-card Diamond suit and 7 plus high card points.
		3		Shows a good Heart suit with only one loser, such as: AKJ, KQJ, or AQJ.
		3		Shows a good Spade suit with only one loser, such as: AKJ, KQJ, or AQJ.
		3 NT		Shows a balanced to semi-balanced holding with a range of 10 to 12 high card points, and no 5-card suit.
		4		Shows a Club suit with no loser. Length must be a minimum of 5 cards.
		4		Shows a Diamond suit with no loser. Length must be a minimum of 5 cards.
		4		Shows a Heart suit with no loser. Length must be a minimum of 5 cards.
		4		Shows a Spades suit with no loser. Length must be a minimum of 5 cards.

The opener, with the information contained in the first response by partner, is then in a better position to decide and determine whether the final contract should be partscore, game, or slam.

First Response is 2 Diamonds

As soon as the partner has responded with 2 Diamonds, an artificial and negative first response showing fewer than 6/7 high card points, then the opener will make the first natural bid of the auction to show the nature of the strong, artificial 2 Clubs opening:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
2				Artificial. Strong. Forcing.
		2		Artificial and negative showing fewer than 6/7 high card points.
2				Shows at least a 5-card Heart suit. One round forcing.
2				Shows at least a 5-card Spade suit. One round forcing.
3				Shows at least a 5-card Club suit. One round forcing.
				Exception: if the 2 Clubs bidder has a distribution of 4-4-4-1, then the opener may bid a strong 4-card suit, beginning with the lowest Major suit or, per partnership agreement, the stronger of the two Major suits. This is the agreement, however rare, for this particular shape. Note: by partnership agreement, if the distribution is 5-5, Major suits or Minor suits or mixed, then the opener bids the higher-ranking suit first to consume bidding space.
2 NT				Shows a balanced to semi-balanced shape with 23-24 high card points. This bid may also be based on a certain number of Losing Tricks per partnership agreement. The responder may pass, raise to game, employ any and all conventional methods such as Stayman or transfer bids.
3 NT				Shows a balanced to semi-balanced shape with 25-27 high card points. The responder may then pass or transfer to at least a 6-card Major suit.
4 NT				Shows a balanced to semi-balanced shape with 28-30 high card points. The responder may then pass or transfer to at least a 6-card Major suit.
5 NT				Shows a balanced to semi-balanced shape with 31-32 high card points. The responder may then pass, transfer to at least a 6-card Major suit, and/or bid slam per partnership agreements.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.