[helene_t]

1eyedjack, on 2014-April-13, 05:51, said:

But with an established partnership with well honed agreements I would expect the relative merits of a weak 2D and 2D to show a strong opener in one unspecified suit to be finely balanced.

Yes, I think it makes a lot of sense to put different shapes into the 2♣ and 2♦ openings. With Shogi I play something very similar to IMP-25 (the version of Dutch Doubleton which the IMP magazine tries to establish as a standard):
-2♣ covers a.o.t. hands with clubs, including M-♣ twosuiters
-2♦ covers a.o.t. hands with diamonds, including M-♦ twosuiters

Now the 3♦ rebid shows a minor suit one-suiter, while the 3♣ rebid shows a 6-4 (maybe some exceptional 5-4s as well) m-M two-suiters, and partner can ask for the major by bidding 3♦.

That way, you don't get to open any two-suited or minor-suited hands below GF strength at the 2-level. So partner needs to respond a bit lighter to your 1-level openings. This may cause a bit of problems playing Acol where
1M-1NT
2NT*
is 17-18 while 3NT would be 19. So you don't really want partner to hold a random 5-count. So maybe you should just accept that you occasionally will be making 1M with four overtricks. I think it's worth it. Especially if I open 2m and opps have bid at the 4-level before my next turn. Now I am more concerned about partner knowing something about my shape than whether I have a 4-loser or a 3-loser hand.

[Vampyr]

fromageGB, on 2014-April-15, 05:33, said:

Your idea of a "contract uncertainty" split between two strong bids may be a better alternative than Benji, but then there are many contenders for the spare bid in a regular partnership if you have just one strong suit opening.

Quite. 1eyedjack seems very lucky; the rest of us need the space to bid the crap we are usually dealt.

[1eyedjack]

Vampyr, on 2014-April-15, 18:26, said:

the rest of us need the space to bid the crap we are usually dealt.

And present company excepted , the vast majority of the rest use that extra space to show what? A weak 2 in D. Sheesh! Impressive.

[fromageGB]

Hey, let's not forget this is the N&B forum, and a weak 2 in diamonds is a simple and useful tool to have. It is a good default agreement.