Slam Bidding

(Courtesy of Bob Crosby)

In Match Points, partnership slam bidding skills are not very important. Only two or three slam hands come up per session and a +480 or +690 when you should be in slam usually results in 4 or 5 match points instead of the average 6. You have a lot of company with those pairs who are equally inept in slam bidding as you are, so you do not get punished.

In IMPS though, a partnership that is weak in slam bidding sticks out like a sore thumb. -17, -14, - 12 are very punishing in a session where the opponents have good slam bidding methods. These results will sink a team. Good established partnerships emphasize slam bidding in their system. They have bidding tools to assist them, good partnerships understandings and treatments to get them into good slams or keep them out of the bad slams. The basic bidding structure that shows that you are near 33 HCP or 37 HCP get you to the average good slams. Splinters that show you duplication or value or not, result in closer slams as does good hand evaluation of promoting controls over queens and jacks.

Cue-bidding and the Serious 3NT are superb slam bidding tools. The notion of cue-bidding opposite unlimited hands in case partner has slam interests keeps your slam tries under game. Unless one of the partners shows Serious slam interest by bidding 3NT, you stay at the game level instead of the precarious 5 level as in the good old days. Your 2/1 bidding becomes nicely structured with cuebids just being noises for the most part. The famous Italian Blue team always beat the Americans in slam bidding. They used Italian style cue-bidding which means you can are not restricted to cue-bidding 1st round controls in the first instance. The partnership is free to show 2nd round controls when you feel it is appropriate. Superior cue-bidding lead to superior slams.

KCB has been vastly improved over the years as have minor suit slam understandings. Specific King ask, queen asks, suit asking bids and Exclusion Blackwood assist established partnerships to get to slams that most partnerships would not reach. Slam bidding is a thing of beauty with good established partnerships as they must relay information back and forth. They make joint decisions rather than just one partner deciding single handedly there is slam in the hand. If she keeps dragging her heels when you make slam tries, there is a reason so it's best to give up when partner does not want to cooperate.

Kokish game tries can double as slam tries. Partner initially does not know your true intentions so the fact that she is dragging her feet to get to game should discourage your slam aspirations. Both Tom and Kiz held this hand in Calgary.

Tom: xxxx AKxx void KJ1098

Me: AK10 Q9xx QJx AQx

Tom opened 1, I bid a heart. Both Tom and Kiz thought that splintering to 4 or 3 diamonds was a little much on 11 HCP so they settled with 2.

My hand is a flat 18 HCP so I need input from partner to determine where the final resting point should be. If partner has a flat 12, I might want to be in 4 or if Tom had the right distributional 13 HCP there may be a grand slam.

I bid 2 which is a Kokish game try. Tom bid 3 which says he would accept a game try in clubs. I bid 3 and Tom bid 4 which got doubled. I made a further slam try so with the opponents doubling his void, Tom leapt to our slam. 7 is 68% with 4 hearts, 2 spades, 5 clubs and 2 diamond ruffs!

There are certain parts of a bidding system that needs to be improved to get to good slams. Your 2 structure, your 2NT rebids, your 2NT openers, your 1NT openers and 1NT rebids. 2 way NMF over 1NT, 4 suit transfers over 1NT assist in slam bidding.

My partners and I have introduced relays to our 2 structure and elsewhere which won us 13 IMPs in Calgary in one hand.

Tom held: xxxx J10 xxx Kxxx

Mine: x AKQxxx A AQ10xx

I opened 2. Tom bid 2 as he had a control so I bid 2. In our system that demands a relay to 2 spades. Tom bid 2 spades as requested and I bid 3. This indicated to Tom that I had a two suiter in hearts and clubs. He made the excellent bid of 5 which described his hand perfectly. He should have no outside controls but as he bid 2 initially be must have a club control.

I bid 6 and we were +1370 for 13 IMPs. Nick G and Klimo were +230 in a heart partial when they played the hand!

Another hand that show the risk element of bidding slams in IMPS. The IMP scale rewards you for bidding 50% slams. You either win 12 IMPS or lose 12 IMPs so if is at least 50% you should bid it. Tom and I had a hand that illustrates that point.

I held: xxx AKx AJ1098 Jx

Tom opened 1. I responded 1 and Tom bid 3. In these auctions the first inclination should be to grope to 3NT. I bid 3 so Tom bid 3NT. Tom cannot bid 3 on this auction as that actually asks for a spade stopper! From my perspective Tom can have the spade Ace or King or QJx of spades. One losing spade holding out of 3 so the odds are in my favour. This should be no worse then a 50-50 proposition. I pulled 3NT to 4 which Tom interpreted as KCB. He bid 4NT which showed the queen of trump with two controls. I leap to 6 so that ended the auction. As it turned out, Tom held the KJx of spades but it was a 100% slam as Tom established the 5th diamond for his 12th trick. +920 was reached at both tables so we pushed the board.

In a recent CNTC zone final, our partners were wrong in slam decisions 8 times out of 9. They missed a 6 slam which was bid and made at our table, they bid a vulnerable slam 6 that went down. They missed many more easy to bid slams but otherwise played well throughout the tournament. They are very experienced Diamond Life Masters who are very skilled at the match point game. Here are three more vulnerable slams they missed just in the final match!

xxx void J109x AQ1098x

void xxx AKQxxxx KJx

Cold for 7 vulnerable and non-vulnerable opponents played in 5 for +50. Neither of the partnership were aware of their two suited fit or their voids in the opponent's suits.

AJ8765 KQJx 10xx void

109 Axx AQJxx AKx

6 bid and made by the opponents, 3NT by them.

AKx J10xx Axx Q10x

J10x AQ987x x AKx

One of two finesses to make so a 75% vulnerable slam missed. Conservative slam bidding is for matchpoints not IMPS.

An X rated slam bidder and partner are a good example of how not to bid slams. The Pitbulls tell me this notorious slam bidder gracefully bid about 5 slams in their match against them but did not make any of them so got blitzed. Against our team, he bid a 7 spades that depended on a transfer ruffing finesse! When they came to Tom afterwards to brag about their result, Tom just said anybody that bids 7 on that hand won't be on our team! That ended this conversation.

Slam Hands

Two interesting slam hands came up today with a lesson attached. hand and you hear the auction go:

1	Pass	3	Pass
3	Pass	4	Pass
4NT	Pass	5	Pass
6

The 3 bid was conventional showing a limit raise in spades.You decide to go passive with this hand xx xx KJxx Kxxxx and lead a trump and the board comes down with Kxxx xx Q109 AQJx.

Declarer wins your trump lead in his hand and then crosses to the spade King and everybody follows. He plays Ace of clubs and then the Queen of clubs discarding a diamond and you are in. Now what? As usual patterns are your guide with assistance by the way declarer is playing the hand. If declarer's heart bid was natural showing 4 or 5 hearts declarer is either 5-5-2-1 or 5-4-3-1. With either of those patterns, if declarer has the diamond Ace, you are not getting a diamond trick as the next diamond is getting discarded on the club jack. OK the worst case scenario is you finesse yourself out of the diamond King if declarer has Ace 4th of diamonds. Wait a minute, if declarer has Axxx opposite Q109 would he be trying for quick pitches on the club suit? You win your club and lead a diamond back to partner's Ace and beat the slam otherwise they make 6 off two cash-able diamonds. Declarer did not cuebid 4 over 4 because he did not have a diamond control! Very bad bidding but a good result if you are not on your toes.

Another hand xx Qxxxxx xxxx x and the auction goes:

1	Pass	3	4NT
6	Pass	Pass	Dbl

3 was a splinter. What do you lead? Partner has advertised probably 6-6 in the minors. A heart void is very likely with the lead directing double. Golden rule: if partner is not making a lead directing double you should treat it as one anyway. You lead a heart and partner ruffs and cashes the diamond Ace. Any other lead and the slam makes. The lesson on both these hands is translating bidding into patterns to assist you. With the help of declarers line of play and partner's double you beat both slams as you have a blueprint to follow.

As an aside there is another rule. If the opponents freely bid a slam other then in obvious sacrificing situation, penalty doubles do not exist. If the opening leader doubles then he is asking permission to sacrifice with a D.S.I.P. double. If the other partner doubles, it is lead directing. You do not try to punish freely bid slams by the opponents.

Tactics (Below Game Slam tries)

The entire idea behind courtesy cuebids and Serious 3NT is so that partnerships can make slam tries below game. Making a slam try and going down at the 5 level is horrible Bridge. Also bad, is making a slam try beyond 3NT and going down in 5 of a minor. Make your slam tries below game. If your system can not handle this notion, there is something very wrong with your system!

Thursday night Partner and I won 8 IMPS on a hand because we made 3 slam tries under game. At the time there were 3 pairs in slam going down. I held AJ10xx Q10x AQ10x K. 16 HCP counting the singleton king. In 2nd seat partner opened 1, I bid 1 and LHO bid 1NT as a passed hand for the minors. Partner bid 2 so I wanted to make a slam try so I tried 4. Partner obliged with 4 so I made a Last Train slam try by bidding 4.

When you just bid a suit directly below the trump suit, it is not a cuebid in the traditional sense. If you had that control, it is obvious that you would have just bid 4NT KCB. The bid means, I am making one last stab at slam but lacking a needed control. Partner was looking at KQxx xxxxxKJ Ax and knew we were in trouble in the heart suit, so he signed off in 4. Mission accomplished. 5 can be beat with a heart ruff!

We played a local pair later on whose system must have some fundamental flaw as they were forced to make a slam try beyond 3NT. They opened 1with a flat minimum hand, partner overcalled 1. They bid 2 which shows a limit raise or better in diamonds. The opener bid 2NT which in standard expert bidding is an either/or bid a minimum or a very good flat hand. 2NT is forcing to 3 in most expert partnerships. They bid 3 which in most partnerships means I have the limit raise and if you are the minimum, please pass. They must play it as forcing which is redundant to the 2 bid. You must have a way to escape from a cuebid with the limit raise hands. The 2 bidder held xx Kx AQJ10x A109x, a hand worth 16 HCP in support of diamonds which is a possible hand with any 2 cuebid. Partner cuebid 3 with virtually a non opening bid Qxxx AQx Kxxx Qx. Although there are 13 HCP, the hand lacks controls and has two unsupported queens. Truly a pitiful Bridge hand with proper hand evaluation so the last thing you want to do is encourage partner. The 2 bidder as most would, took the heart cuebid as forward going so she bid 4 beyond the 3NT game. They ended up in 5 down one when 3NT is cold. A slam try forcing the auction to a game contract that cannot make.

Over 2NT, the 2 bidder should have bid 3 has an obvious slam try. Why is she not bidding 3NT or 3? 3 must be interpreted as a slam try and below 3NT. The bid is asking a question re traditional cue-bidding theory. Do you have more than you already announced with your opener or not? With this piece of junk, we would retreat to 3NT (the death response) rather quickly. Mission accomplished as we made a slam try below the 3NT game. What if opener held A10xx Ax Kxxx Kx, rebid 2NT and cuebid 3. 6 is cold and a lay down. Same 2NT bid but proper hand evaluation afterwards. A cuebid asks partner to evaluate her hand not just bidding the same values already bid by opening. Hand evaluation is permitted and even encouraged in the game of Bridge.

Tactics (Slam Tries)

One bid that has been around a long time but not used enough, in my opinion, is the 5 of a major slam try. In many hands, we just want to flash our slam intentions without having a specific meaning for the bid. When the context of the auction negates the systemic use of 5 of a major, the bid should be just interpreted as a general slam try. Two hands bid by local players demonstrate the lost art of the 5 of a major as a general slam try.

Susan Culham held this unlikely looking hand K AJxx AJxx AJxx and Maurice opened 4 vulnerable. Susan can count 8 tricks and 3 Aces for 11 tricks. Does he have anything else? How do you invite partner to the party? A 5 bid cannot be asking for trump as both KCB or 5NT does a better job. A 5 bid in this context is a general slam invite asking for any additional source of tricks. Maurice had outside cards so 1430 is easy as he accepts the invitation.

Tom Gandolfo held A10xx AKx x AQ10xx and the auction proceeds 2 and Leslie doubles vulnerable vs not. Tom bids 3 and Leslie bids 4 with KJ98 x AJ98xx Kx. So far so good but what now? With takeout double auctions, partner is supposed to be short in the opponent's suit. I think that should be a basic assumption on all these auctions. If not, a doubleton in the opponent's suit should be factored in on general slam try auctions. Tom now bids 5 thereby flashing his slam intentions and asking partner a question. How do you like your hand in support of spades? Leslie has a nice hand in support of spades so with good trump and a singleton in their suit she carries on to 6. Tom makes 7 with a trump finesse and 1470 is the final result.

Deliberately bidding past game in NT is an obvious slam invitation. Bidding past game in a major is also an obvious slam invitation. The bid should become more common in our auctions. The 5 of a major bid invites partner to join the party.

Cuebids vs Exclusion Blackwood

Exclusion Blackwood is a new tool for us. Whenever you are thinking about cue-bidding a void, think Exclusion Blackwood instead. The trouble with cue-bidding a void is that partner thinks it is a king or an Ace so he does not discount terrible duplication of value and continues to make encouraging noises.

BJ held this hand Void Q10987x Jxx AK10x, and I opened 1NT. BJ transferred to hearts and then bid 3. I bid 3 confirming hearts as the trump suit. If I have nothing in spades, a grand slam in hearts is possible xxxx AKx AK Qxxx. If I have horrible duplication of value in spades, 6would be very iffy. A void showing bid is Exclusion Blackwood so 4 asks for Aces. Partner with AKQx Kxx Axxx xx shows two outside the spade suit (5) so you sign off in 5. With the other hand you give a 5 response and 6 is a baby bid.

BJ had a hand that Exclusion would have kept us out of a bad slam. He held AQ10xx void Axxx AJxx and opened 1 getting a 1NT response from me. BJ bid a quiet 2 (what else?) and I showed a limit raise in spades by bidding 3. Given the parameter of the forcing NT where my maximum is in the 11 HCP range we are in the 26 HCP range. Having said that, if there is no duplication of value in hearts, a grand slam is possible!

Kxx xxxx Kx KQxx are the magical cards where 13 tricks are a possibility. Anyway BJ decided to cuebid 4 to test the waters and I replied 4 which obviously says I like my hand on the auction. What next? 5 Exclusion by BJ is a two way bid. It asks me to show controls omitting the heart Ace but it obviously tells me that he is void in hearts. I held the wrong hand for him as I held the heart Ace instead of the spade king making slam a bad contract. I respond no Aces and BJ now realizes that we are in the 26 HCP range with possible duplication so he passes my 5 response (zero aces). My hand was Jxx Axxx Kx K10xx but what if my hand was Jxx xxxx KQx KQxx. In light of his non forcing 2 bid and his slam aspirations I would just bid 6!. There is no hand that he could hold that he bids 2 with a void in hearts that slam cannot make. He needs around 16 HCP outside the heart suit so filling in the blanks 6 must be cold! Exclusion Blackwood is a two way bid on some auctions!

2/1 auctions when there is a void in the majors is Exclusion Blackwood so do not cuebid the void. You hold void xx Axxx AQJ10xx and partner opens a heart. You bid 2 and partner raises to 3. Do not even think of cue-bidding your spade void. Jump to 4 which is Exclusion Blackwood for clubs!. With minors agreed, you can get away with Exclusion Blackwood at the 4 level in the major. Here is another auction. I held AKxxxx void Axxx Kxx and partner opens 1. I respond a spade and partner bids 2. 4 to play is an impossible bid as you have a million other bids to show spades and hearts. 4 is Exclusion KCB with diamonds as the agreed suit.

Opening 2 is where Exclusion Blackwood could be a very frequent bid. If you have found a minor fit early jump to 4 of a major is Exclusion Blackwood.

2	Pass	3	Pass
4

4 is not splintering to the weak hand. Clubs are agreed and we have a void in diamonds and Exclusion KCB. With a major fit after a 2 opener, a jump to the 5 level is an obvious Exclusion Blackwood bid.

2	Pass	2	Pass
2	Pass	3	Pass
5	Pass	?

Exclusion Keycard Blackwood

OK what about the strong distribution 6-5 hands?

x AKJxx AQJ10xx x, and you open 1 and partner bid 1. Do not be a kangaroo and jump to 4. That is Exclusion Blackwood with spade support! Bid 2 as a quiet reverse or 3 as a jump shift reverse if you are weaker. What about the strong two suiters with the spade suit. Here is where I think Exclusion Blackwood is silly. Exclusion Blackwood forcing the auction to the 5 level when there is a threat of Serious duplication of value is bad Bridge. A leap to the 4 level in spades is natural and not Exclusion Blackwood.

AKQxx x x AKxxxx

1	Pass	1	Pass
4

4 as Exclusion Blackwood is too risky and will put the heart contract in jeopardy if there is severe duplication of value in spades.

Cue-bidding vs Kickback

Minor suit slam bidding is worth its weight in gold in IMPS. As Kantar has mentioned many times, when you just establish your minor suit fit at the 4 level, it is the agreement and not the ask. One of the basics of Bridge is to establish your fit early and then cuebid. The ambiguity of advanced cuebids or implied cuebids are silly. Partner does not know if your bid is natural or you are cue-bidding. Support partner's suit first!

Here is a hand that experts screwed up badly by making advanced cuebids. A10854 AJ8 KJ J10x. Partner ones 1 and you respond 1. Partner bids 3 and I feel you have a simple bid. You support partner's clubs by going past 3NT. This bid must show slam interest. You did not leap to 5, bid 3NT or grope for 3NT.

You are now at the 4 level so what is the use of initiating a cue-bidding auction at this level? if partner does bid 4 of a major, it is because she lacks a diamond control in order to bid 4 Kickback KCB. You do not need 4 as a cuebid. There are many auctions where you want 4NT to be natural to escape or describe a balanced 3 bid with softer values. Partner has pushed you by 3NT, so 4NT might still be the best contract. 4NT as KCB is dangerous with a minor as trump as you go past 5/ rather quickly.

Kickback with the minors takes getting used to but just think 4 level is the agreement and not the ask as Kantar advocates. 4NT is virtually never Blackwood with a minor fit unless every suit has been bid and there is no Kickback suit. Partner on this hand bids 4 and you bid 4NT showing two with no trump queen. Partner has Kx x Axx AKxxxxx. Coming with the territory of minor suit KCB is keeping the bidding low so you can use neat bids like suit asking bids. Partner bids 5 which is a suit ask in diamonds. You still have 3 steps under 6 so you can bid 6 with the death response in diamonds. 5 is 3rd round control, 5 is Kxx and 5NT is Kx and 6 is KQ and 7 a singleton diamond!. Partner bids 7 which is cold.

Kickback has all the modern KCB advantages of keeping the bidding low and progressing into suit asking bids or specific king ask. Starting cue-bidding at the 4 level with a minor agreed is lame anyway but you do have that option. If you bypass the kickback suit it is an obvious cuebid. Therefore in almost all cases you have the best of both worlds. You just can not cuebid the Kickback suit. However, if you do not use Kickback, partner has the obvious inference you do not have a control in the Kickback suit.

Kickback for the minors is defined for the 4 level. If you make you minor agreement at the 3 level or lower in a forcing auction, 4 of the agreed minor is KCB. Kickback is reserved for the rarefied 4 level. In a non forcing auction, you might want 4 of a minor to mean I have nothing more to say. Kickback apples in those limit raise or better auctions if the game force switch has not been turned on. Kickback, do not leave home without it!

Cuebids (Courtesy)

Old habits die hard. One of the fundamentals of Bridge bidding was that cuebids showed extra so were often inviting slam. This understanding was written in stone so to speak. Over the years this understanding is no longer a fundamental part of Bridge. Experts have decided that it is good strategy to cuebid with major suit fits (only) as a courtesy, when partner's hand is unlimited. This is the basis of Serious 3NT theory, when we have found a major suit fit. This is a modern hand evaluation concept based on unlimited hands with a major fit. However, do not get carried away with this concept. The cuebid is not like Standard American and shows extra, but the cuebid says you do have your bid with good values. When you have a minimum dog, you do not cuebid. Failure to cuebid does not mean you do not have the control, it just means you have used hand evaluation to slow the auction down. Hand evaluation and cue-bidding go together, as Bridge judgment is never entirely removed by systemic understandings.

What about in other competitive auctions at a high level? Again we feel that if partner is unlimited and you were going to compete at a high level anyway, you should cuebid as a courtesy. This does not show any more than you would have shown by making your bid at that particular level.

Example:

Axxx Jxx Q10xxx x, you are vulnerable and they are not. LHO opens 3, partner bid 4 and RHO interferes 4. You do not pre-empt over a pre-empt so partner's bid shows a strong unlimited hand. You decide you want to bid 5. Once you have decided to take this action, why not make a courtesy cuebid of 5 along the way? Since partner's hand is unlimited and so variable how do you know to make a slam try? You are just bidding the strength of your hand to that particular level so cue-bidding as a courtesy. Partner's hand is x AKQ10xxx AKxxx so a nice 1430 is attained.

Here is another hand. Axx x Ax K109876x, you open 1 vulnerable vs non-vulnerable. LHO opponent bids 4 and partner bids 5. She is asking you to bid 6 when you have a heart control and bid 6 when you have 1st round control. Should you just comply and bid 6? Partner is very unlimited in this auction so what does it hurt to bid 6 along the way as a courtesy. Partner's hand was KQJ10xxx void Qxx AQx, so her 5 call probably was not the best bid. Anyway if you bid 6, they bid 7 so you are very poorly placed. You double and beat it one against your cold vulnerable grand. If you bid 6, you can pass 7 as you denied 1st round control of hearts anyway. Partner has a simple 7 bid so all is well with her poor bid going in.

When partner has an unlimited hand and invites you to take some slam auction, cue-bidding as a courtesy rather than just bidding your slam makes sense. Since partner's hand is so variable, how can you be making a grand slam try? You were just trying to get to a small slam. Maurice and Susan had this auction in a Saskatoon CNTC. Maurice opened 1 vulnerable, they bid 2NT non-vulnerable so Susan splintered to 4. They bid 5, Maurice passed so around to Susan who bid 5. Maurice decided he was going to accept the slam try with Kxx AQxxxx x Axx so why not cuebid 6 along the way as a courtesy? At the table, he bid 6 not anticipating that the opponents might bid 7 non-vulnerable opposite partner's unlimited hand. They doubled 7 but they could have been pushed to a cold grand. AQxxx KJxx Axx x

Another example of a courtesy cue bid recently. I held xxxxx Ax KQxxx x, the auction went 1 - P - 2 - 3 by Tom Gandolfo. I bid 3, Tom bid 4 so it's quite obvious from the bidding that Tom holds a spade void. Despite my singleton in his suit, I accept the game try. Why not show the heart Ace as a courtesy along the way since I am going to 5 anyway? Tom holds void Kxx AJxx AJxxxx so does not need much encouragement to bid 6. I made a 21 HCP grand slam but only played it in 5.

We think the cue-bidding as a courtesy should apply in all auctions that partner's hand is variable and unlimited. When partner's hand is limited or defined in a range like a strong 2 opener, the cuebid retains its original Bridge meaning of showing extra so a game/slam try. Courtesy cuebids do not apply by the unlimited hand. In fact 2 openers have such a variable range that failure to cuebid is a means of slowing down an auction. Here is an auction by Kantar-Eisenberg that shows this slowing down process.

Eisenberg opened 2 on AKQJx x Axxx AKx, Kantar has xxxxx AQJ xxx xx and bid 2. 2 by Eisenberg brought 3 by Kantar but Eisenberg did not cuebid anything. He just bid 4 saying as far as 2 openers go I have a minimum. Will need the pushing to be done from your side, if there is slam. Do not make a courtesy cuebid to the weaker hand, if you are the known strong unlimited hand. This would mean that you have more than you already announced.

A Tormentee had this hand A1098 QJ987 x AJx and opened 1. I bid 2 so she bid 2 followed by a 3 bid by me. Should she bid 4 as a courtesy as I am unlimited? Her poor opener has got worse on the auction as she has a singleton in my suit. She has an obligation to tell me that by bidding 4. My hand was KJx AK10 KQxxx 10x so I passed. This is a hand that you can see 6 being defeated from the opening lead. A club lead and there is no where to get rid of the club loser before the diamond Ace is knocked out.

Slam Bidding Part Two

Playing the vulnerability and table position for slams is a theme for this hand. Sometimes planning is called for when vulnerable against not vulnerable opponents. If there is a chance that they can have a cheap not vulnerable sacrifice against your vulnerable game/slam you should take some precautionary action. I like the bids of two Pitbulls Thursday night on this hand.

x void Axxxx AK109xxx. One Pitbull found herself in 4th seat with this hand. Only 1 card in the majors and one hell of a playing hand to bid. One Pitbull chose a devious way to buy the hand and opened 2. This tactic may work to buy the hand and describe the huge playability of the hand. Unfortunately it was against Gandolfo who refused to shut up and they found their cheap sacrifice in 5 doubled. I gave the hand to Pitbull Pat and she came up with a bid I like even better. She opened 5 in 4th chair. This has the advantage of keeping the opponents out with their majors and the disadvantage of not getting to 6. On reflection, the enemy will probably never let you play it in 6 anyway so 600 or 620 will be better then +300 or +100!

Years ago there was a convention called Namyats which sacrificed 4/4 openers to show huge playing hands in the majors 8 to 10 tricks with a long suit. This fell into oblivion because the frequency did not justify sacrificing the 4/ pre-empt. The solution was to reserve a part of the 2 structure for these bids. Ax AKQJ10xx xx Ax. You open 2 and when partner responds 2 you leap to 4. Since you are jamming partner you are making a picture bid of the old Namyats type hands.

One of the reasons the 2 bid was invented was so that you do not miss game or slam when partner can not come up with a response. You can not rely on balancers to get you to your game or slam all the time. Opening at the one level with void AKQJx AJxx AQxx is ludicrous in any form of the game and especially IMPS. With this hand, partner held KJxxxx of clubs was not enough to respond but good enough for 7 vulnerable to make. One of Edmonton's better players opened this hand 1 which I find mind boggling. They got balanced to game and played it there but missed their small or grand slam. Another hand opened at the one level was x AKQxxx A AQ10xx and partner did not have enough to respond with Kxxx of clubs. This was enough for 1370 in clubs. Luckily the opponents balanced them into their makeable slam.

The last hand shows very good bidding by Maurice to maximize his chances for a vulnerable slam. Maurice held AQxxx AQx Kxx Kx and heard his partner open 1 vulnerable. Maurice bid 2NT and partner bid 3. This 3 is no longer a good hand playing Serious 3NT with your Jacoby 2NT. You do know that partner does not have the dog of all dogs because she would have bid 4. Maurice now bid 3NT which is a Serious slam try and partner must cuebid. His partner bid 4 and Maurice replied with 4. Partner bid 4 and Maurice bid 5 in which his partner responded 5. It is painfully obvious the partnership is off the club Ace. Maurice must protect his Kx of clubs from the opening lead. Partner could hold 4/ or the 6th spade and you would have 12 tricks without needing the club Ace onside. Maurice bid 6NT which has to be the correct contract! We opened up the slip and the entire field was in 6 from the wrong side for 1430. Maurice made 1440 from the correct side and had a contract that might not depend solely on the location of the club Ace.!

Cuebids (Past 3NT)

Jump cuebids, as discussed previously in articles, have their goal to get to 3NT with a solid suit. What about jump cuebids that go past 3NT? These are defined by experts also around takeout doubles of one bids and weak twos.

The auction goes 1 - DBL - P - 4 so has partner decided to expose a psyche so is too lazy to pass 1 doubled first? No, partner is trying to tell us something. In Bridge, you do not need two or three bids to describe the same hand type or do you? 4NT directly bid after a takeout double of a one bid or a two bid says pick a minor partner but does not show values. A jump to 5NT says pick a minor at the 6 level. What if you were slammish in the minors and had a control in their suit. Enter the jump cuebid at the 4 level to show that control.

Here is an auction from an expert pair in the Vanderbilt that impressed me.

2	Dbl	Pass	4
Pass	6

The doubler held AQx xxx KQx KQxx

The jump cue bidder had xx K AJ10xx AJ9xxx

At the other table, the expert just cuebid at the 3 level and raised partner's minor to game. The difference in the auction is one bid clarified the partnership's intentions immediately, the other auction did not.

Over weak twos, this understanding is considered as part of standard Lebensohl. Quoting an article on Lebensohl from the Internet.

Immediate jump cuebid (2 - DBL - P - 4) = Both minors (if the weak-2 was a major). If the opponent opened 2, a jump to 4 shows both majors. The jump cuebid shows game values and a control in their suit.

There is a 3rd jump cuebid defined in this article on Lebensohl.

Lebensohl first, then cuebid at 4-level (4) = Two-suited slam-try with both minors. (If the opponent opened a weak 2, Lebensohl then 4 is a slam-try with both majors.) This shows slam interest but no control in their suit.

Cuebids (Fundamentals)

The basic fundamental of cue-bidding is the rank order of suits. You cuebid in the rank order of suits to give partner extra information. When you bypass a cuebid playing Italian style of cuebids or even the American style, you simply do not have a control in that suit. Serious 3NT theory and Last Train slam tries are in part an extension of the rank order of cue-bidding basics.

Here is well bid hand commented on by Mike Yuen on his blog. The two hands are indicated below:

AQ54 KQJ1043 A107 void

8 A987 K953 A642

The auction goes 1 with a 1 overcall and Mike bids 2 which shows a limit raise or better and nothing to do with the spade suit. The other hand would love to find out if Mike has a singleton spade. In order to do that, you try to solicit a cuebid from partner by cuebid in the rank order of suits. Opener cuebids 3 so Mike complies with a 3 cuebid. Another Bridge principle is in effect here, once a cue-bidding auction ensues and neither side makes the "death response" of returning to the trump suit a game force is established. Opener, upon hearing partner cue-bidding diamonds makes a "waiting bid" of 3 trying to solicit a 3 cuebid from partner. Mike makes a 3 cuebid confirming a singleton spade! That's all opener needs to hear, so KCB is next so they reach a grand slam. The key to the grand is the singleton spade. Mike could easily hold xx Axxx Kxxx AKx so of course a grand slam is hopeless. Mike might have chosen a jump cuebid going in which would have simplified the auction greatly. Since he did not choose that bid, there is a strong chance that he does not hold a singleton spade. However partner was careful to get that information from him anyway. The grand slam was a success due to the singleton spade.

Experts have made one exception to “up the line” cue-bidding. Whenever you bypass two suits to make a cuebid when partner has announced none, you are showing the two lower ranking controls also. This understanding in effect gives you a 3 in 1 cuebid. The reasoning is simple enough. Why cuebid at all in the highest ranking suit when you are missing both lower ranking cuebids and partner has yet to show either of them? Bidding space is at a premium when you trying to solicit information from partner which is the concept behind cue-bidding in the first place. A 3 cuebid is not recommended on this auction unless you have an understanding that 3NT from responder shows a spade cuebid (what else could it be?). Mike on the auction, should cuebid 4 after a 3 cuebid as partner is obviously not interested in the minors as he has already announced both controls. Mike’s minor controls can be show later via KCB responses in my opinion anyway.

Another fundamental is that once you are past the 4 level, a cuebid shows 1st round control unless partner has already made a cuebid in that suit directly or implied.

AJ AKxxxx AKxxx void

Here is an easily bid 7 contract showing that principle in action. 3 - P - P - 4. Partner bids 4 so a 5 cuebid shows both 1st round controls in spades and hearts since we bypassed both of them! Partner now cuebids 5 on K10xx x Qxxxx Kxx and the next bid is 7.

Susan Culham uses the same principle of soliciting a cuebid from partner recently. She held KQxx Q10 A AQJ109x and her partner opened 1. She bid 2 and her partner bid 2. This bid normally means 9 red cards have been identified unless you would bid a 4-4-3-2 by bidding a major (stopper bidding style). Susan now bid 2 and partner raised to 3. Susan now deliberately bypassed the rank order of cuebids so cuebid 4. She was trying to solicit a 4 cuebid rather than a diamond cuebid. Partner on this auction could be void in clubs or a maximum of a singleton anyway. Actually the 4 bid is well chosen as partner is not allowed to cuebid 4 without a club control! Partner could have KQxx Q10 AK QJ1098 and bid the same way. When partner has denied a control and you continue with the cue-bidding game, you show a control in the suit that partner does not have. When partner's style is to bid hearts (bidding stoppers) with a balanced hand AJ109 AKJx J10x xx over 4 he is not allowed to cuebid 4 as he knows the partnership is off two cashable clubs. Susan after the 4 bid knew partner had both controls.

These hands show one of the advantages of the Italian style of cue-bidding. When partner bypasses any control, she does not have it. The partnership can make a death response and a futile slam try of KCB or going to the 5 level is prevented. Perry Khakar bid the same hand well and made a trump safety play in the bidding! I held the other hand and opened 1 with AJ109 AKJx xxxx K. Perry bid 2 so we play a pattern style of bidding rather than showing stoppers so I could not bid 2 as that shows 5 or 6 diamonds in our bidding structure. So I chose a bid of 2NT which shows 15-17 HCP in our weak NT system. Perry bid 3 and I raised to 4. Perry took control with KCB and I responded 5. Perry bid 5NT (specific kings) so I bid 6. Perry now makes the master bid of 6 asking if I held the heart king. I bid 7 saying I indeed held that card. Perry can now count 13 tricks in NT without the spade suit catering to a 5-0 or J109x of spades in an opponent’s hand. The 7NT bid was in effect a trump safety play! Nicely bid!

Cuebids (Game before Slam )

The guiding principle for cuebids is game before slam. This means that cuebids are to be interpreted in the context of games first and slams later.

Sometimes in Bridge, ambiguity is allowed. Bridge players know ambiguous bids confuse auctions. With minor fits and if you are below 3NT, you can make bids whose true meaning gets clarified later in the auction. The goal with minor fits is 3NT. This is a Bridge basic. Inverted minors, especially when you play them as limit raise or better, allows ambiguity. Was the bid a suit, a stopper or a cuebid? Only time will tell.

How do you interpret 2nd cuebids? Partner makes a takeout double of 1 and you have xxx KJ 10x AKQxxx so you cuebid 2. 1st cuebids just say you just have a strong hand and creating a force. Partner bids 3 so now what? You bid a 2nd cuebid so thinking game before slam, the cuebid should ask for a spade stopper to bid 3NT. Partner has one so she bids 3NT and +600 rolls home.

OK same auction but change your hand AKx Jx 10x AKQxxx. You still cuebid 2 but partner still bids 3. You still bid 3, partner thinking game before slam will think it is asking for a stopper. She does not have one so she bids 4. You now bid 4NT which clarifies your 2nd cuebid as a huge hand with spade values. Can it be Blackwood in support of hearts? Of course not, as you would have bid 3 after 3 as you set up a force with your initial cuebid. Partner's hand is x A1098 AQJ98 J10x so carries on to 6NT which is a positional make as the diamond king is with the opening bidder.

One of the side effects of game before slam is cue-bidding partner's or your own major. You have established a minor fit and either side bids 4 of the previously bid major. Games are more important than slams so they have priority in these auctions. This bid is in offer to play this contract in the major contract. Cue-bidding partner's or your own major suit is just not done at the 4 level in expert circles. Most of the time the cuebid is worthless to the partnership anyway as your void is not as asset to the partnership for slam purposes anyway. A major suit Ace can be found through KCB so why waste an opportunity for a choice of contracts? You should be allowed to play in a secondary major fit after finding a minor fit.

Here is a game before slam interpretation that occurred recently. My partner opened 2 with AKxxx AJ AJx KQx, I bid 2. Partner chose to rebid 2 with his balanced NT hand because he was all controls. I bid 2NT which in our system is forced after a 2 bid unless I wanted to break the relay to show a slam try in spades or a very good other suit. Partner now made the descriptive bid of 3NT which showed the 22-24 HCP range. I now made a bid of 4 so what is that bid? Thinking game before slams it is a diamond suit unless clarified later. Partner now bid 4 as he liked his hand in support of diamonds. I now bid 4 clarifying the diamond bid as a cuebid for a spade slam. Now partner has a judgment to make to go on to 6.

Cuebids need all the help that they can get to interpret them properly. Thinking game before slam helps out a lot.

Cuebids (Obligatory Cue)

We feel cuebids should be obligatory only with "Serious 3NT" theory with the majors opposite unlimited hands in forcing to game auctions. When an auction is “limit raise or better” like a splinter you require a “death response” to show the lower range This style of obligatory cue-bidding means that there is an unlimited hand across from you so you are cue bidding as a courtesy in a game forcing auction. All other cuebids in Bridge are in accordance with standard bidding, they show extra. Do not cuebid just for the sake of cue-bidding. Evaluate your hand first so when you have something more than you have shown already or indicated systemically, by all means cuebid. Failure to cuebid in these auctions does not mean you do not have the control, it just means "you are all in" with your previous bid.

I was kibitzing Moss and Gittleman and they had this auction. AQ10xx xx xxx xxx, Fred opened 1 vulnerable and a 2 non-vulnerable pre-empt by the opponent. This hand made a negative double and LHO jumped to 4 and Fred bid 4NT. This was alerted as showing the minors so Moss bid 5. Fred now bid 5 forcing the hand to slam and looking for 7. Do you make an obligatory cuebid? I think you are all in for your negative double and having nothing in the minors is a danger signal. I retreat to 6 as if all partner needed was one Ace for a grand why is he opening at the one level?

Anyway, Moss thought a cuebid was obligatory so cuebid 5. The next bid was 7 and the opponents collected +100 instead of -1370. A negative double is not forcing to game but can be unlimited. I think you have the obligation to show your minimum range first especially when you doubled at the 2 level with a flat 6 HCP.

The inventors of Standard bidding thought that must be a way of telling partner that you do not have anything extra for your previous bidding. When you impose "obligatory cuebids" on the partnership, this hand evaluation concept goes out the window. You introduce ambiguity in the bidding. Does she or does she not have extra when she cuebids? The "Serious 3NT" allows courtesy cuebids in that you always have the inference that she did not bid the 3NT cuebid in a game forcing auction. A cuebid as a Serious slam try and unlimited hands factor into the equation. Therefore, a cuebid does not necessarily show extra in specific major fit forcing to game auctions. You do not have this understanding in other auctions. We feel you should revert to standard cue-bidding understandings. cuebids mean you interested in bigger and better things. Partner should discourage or encourage these efforts not just be a robot for partners cue-bidding efforts.

A hand came up tonight where there was an “obligatory cuebid“ misunderstanding. A splinter is limit raise or better and is not forcing to game. There is no need to impose obligatory cuebids in these non forcing to game auctions. AKxxxKxxx Jxx x with vulnerable partner opening 1. You splinter to 3 so partner bids 3 so now what? You could have had a weak limit raise but you do not. With a weak limit raise, you would bid 3, so a 3 cuebid should show extra. After hearing 3, opener bids 4NT needing to know about the spade suit. J109xx AQ10x AK xx. Playing with a 30 HCP deck and partner showing extra, there is no room for her extra HCP’s other than in spades. Where are they? Partner shows 2 key cards so +1430 is cold.