In the game of bridge, Ekren refers to a

preempt Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A ...

ive opening of 2 defined as 4-4, 4-5, 5-4 or 5-5 in the majors and 3–10

high card points In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking potential of thei ...

. This conventional

was designed by Bjørn Olav Ekren from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and is an example of the modern style of highly aggressive preemptive bidding.

Responses

Responses to a 2 Ekren opening: :Pass = to play (can be a tactical manoeuvre in the absence of a major suit fit and does not guarantee long diamonds) :2/ = to play :2NT = relay (invitational or stronger) :3 = natural, not forcing :3 = invitational with 3-3 in the majors :3/ = preemptive, to play :4/ = to play In responding to the 2NT relay the opener indicates whether he holds a minimum or a maximum (because of their playing strength 5-5s are generally considered maximum), and – in case of a maximum – the distribution in the majors: :3 = any minimum (responder's 3/ rebid now indicates an invite) :3 = 5-5 min or max (creates game force) :3 = 4-5 max (creates game force) :3 = 5-4 max (creates game force) :3NT = 4-4 max (creates game force)

Modifications

Variants of Ekren include the use of the 2 opening to indicate a weak hand with at least a 4-4 in the majors.Ekren on Swan Games
/ref> This treatment has the advantage that the left hand opponent of the opener can hardly gamble on the fact that (s)he will get a second chance to bid. Another variant that is popular in the Netherlands (where it is referred to as ''Tilburg Two'') and Belgium is to accommodate the Ekren hands as a weak variant in the strong 2 opening. This leaves untouched the 2// openings which are commonly utilised in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

Multi 2 diamonds Multi-coloured 2 diamonds, is a contract bridge convention whereby the opening bid of 2D shows a defined range of hand types. These always include a weak-two bid in a major suit, and the second option, that must be a strong. The inherent ambigui ...

and

Muiderberg Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos. Geography Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of ...

(also known as Tartan or 'Jón og Símon') openings. Also, a 2 relay is now available to responder that can be used to ask for the longest (or better) of the two major suits.

References

{{WPCBIndex Bridge conventions