Posted 2019-September-11, 22:23
I wouldn't worry too much about bidding grand on this hand. You should only bid grand if you can count 13 tricks or believe chance of making are something 67+%.
As for the bidding. I think 2 ♣ is fine, but would bid 2 ♦ even though responder's hand would just qualify for a positive minor response by my lights (5+ to 2 top honors and 2 QTs). It is an absolute minimum positive and takes up a lot of bidding space. It's often right for the weaker hand to get out of the way of the stronger hand and let the big hand tell its story.
After
2 ♣ - 2 ♦
2 ♠
My response as North would be 3 ♠ with ♠ xxxx as that's the strain we'll play in. Note we are a full level lower in identifying the fit than if 3 ♣ was the first response.