After your partner has done an opening bid of 2 No Trumps, your bid then depends on your reply points. Your bidding options are as follows :

Here you have an ace, a jack, and a doubleton, giving you 6 points.

You should bid 3 Spades on this hand. There are various reasons why this bid is the right one :

• You have 4 cards in spades, a major suit.
• You have insufficient strength or length in spades to make a game bid in spades.
• You have insufficient points for a slam bid
• Your alternative 4-card suit, diamonds, is lower ranking and is in any case used to indicate less points than you hold, in the Flint Convention.
• Your weakness in clubs could be exposed if you bid 3 No Trumps.

To summarise, by bidding 3 Spades, you give yourself and your partner the best chance of getting into the right contract, either 3 No Trumps or 4 Spades. Let your partner decide.

Here you have 2 queens and 2 jacks, giving you 6 points.

You should do a game bid of 3 No Trumps on this hand. Your hand is flat, and the suit in which you have no Honours is also your longest.

Here you have a king, a doubleton and a singleton, giving you 6 points.

You should do a game bid of 4 Hearts on this hand. Your hand is uneven, so unsuitable for a no trumps contract, but you have sufficient points and length in hearts to go straight to game.

• You should not be deterred from a game bid when appropriate by your lack of Honours. Your partner has opened 2 No Trumps, and so has plenty of them !
• If this hand had a 4-card heart suit and a more even distribution, it might be better to bid 3 Hearts, and let your partner decide on the contract he or she wants.

Here you have an ace, 2 kings, a queen, and a jack, giving you 13 points.

On this hand you can go straight to looking for a slam bid by opening 4 Clubs (Gerber Convention). As you have a flat hand and your partner opened 2 No Trumps, you can know immediately that no trumps is a suitable contract. You have sufficient points to look for a slam bid, so there is no point in beating about the bush - go for it !

It is essential you establish suit before going for a slam. Suppose that you had 13 points with an uneven distribution, and say a 5-card club suit with your highest card a 10 in that suit. The best contract might then be in clubs, your partner's strongest suit, or no trumps, in any other words anything ! So then bid 3 Clubs, letting your partner know where your length is, and then, after your partner has decided what it's best to be in, do your slam attempt with 4 No Trumps (Blackwood Convention - you cannot use the Gerber Convention when clubs has already been bid).