By Val Rhead
What is a cuebid? A cuebid is the bid of a suit you make with no plan of playing in that suit. You and your partner have an agreement for its meaning. The opposition may inquire what the meaning is. For example: If your partner opens One Heart, your opponent bids One Spade, and you bid Two Spades, you do not have any intention of playing in a Spade contract. Your evil opponent has bid the Spade suit, showing at least five cards in the suit so it would not be logical for you to want to play in Spades too. In this case the Two-Spade bid must have another meaning. It is called a cuebid.
Cuebids can have a variety of meanings, depending upon when they are used and depending on the agreements that you have with your partner. I will talk about only one type of cuebid in today’s column. In this case, your bid of the opponent’s suit, Two Spades, by agreement with your partner, means that you have at least the equivalent of a limit raise (ten points or more) and support of opener’s Heart suit (at least three Hearts).
If your partnership does not use the cuebid when opponents are bidding, you have the following choices to support your partner’s One Heart opening. With 6 to 9 points and 3 plus Hearts, you could raise partner’s One-Heart opening to Two Hearts. With 10 to 12 points and 3 plus Hearts, you could raise partner’s One Heart opening to Three Hearts with a partnership agreement. With any number of points and 5 plus Hearts, you could make a distributional bid of Four Hearts. With a minimum opening hand yourself (12-14 points) and Heart support, you could go directly to the Four-Heart game.
However, the cuebid is a more effective tool when the opposition is bidding. It makes it more difficult for the bad guys to find a Spade fit for competitive bidding or defensive play. They have to come in at Three Spades. It also keeps the bidding lower for your partnership to explore its options more accurately. When you cuebid the opponent’s Spade suit by bidding Two Spades, your partner will bid over the cuebid in the same way that he would if you had made a Limit Raise of Three Hearts. With a minimum opening, he will bid 3 Hearts and if you are weak, you will pass. If you have a game-going hand, you will bid 4 Hearts. If opener has a better than a minimum hand, he will bid game himself directly. If opener has a very strong hand, he will proceed towards slam knowing that you have at least ten points and Heart support. With a stronger hand, you also could proceed towards a slam.
If you play this system where you cuebid your opponents’ suit with least ten points and trump support you now have an additional bid available to you. Opener will now know that if the opponent bids and you do not cuebid, but instead jump raise opener’s suit to Three Hearts, your bid is preemptive showing good trump and a low point count (fewer than six high card points). Opener may stop short of game or if he has a good hand, knowing that you are weak, he could decide to bid game, planning to make it, or as a sacrifice. If he has a good hand, he will probably be aware, because of your weak jump bidding, that a slam is not a possibility and he will be happy to settle for the game.
Of course, you may go down when you play preemptive contracts, but according to the Law of Total Tricks, you usually safely can play to the three level with nine cards in your combined trump suit or at the four level with ten cards in your trump suit et cetera. Down one or two, particularly not vulnerable, could be a better score than letting the enemy make a positive score in their suit.
Note: If you are playing the cuebid limit raise and the opponents do not bid, then by partnership agreement a jump raise to Three Hearts becomes your limit raise and you lose the weak jump raise. There are many variations and other options. For example: if you play 2 Over 1 with One No Trump Forcing, you have a way to have both a Limit Raise and a Weak Three Bid.
For further information about Cuebid Raises, read Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith’s book, “25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know,” Chapter 11.
If you wish to promote an activity in your bridge group or ask a bridge question, send the information to [email protected] and I will include it in this column.
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Huntsville Club are Tuesday evening 7:00, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive at least 15 minutes early. Contact Jan Roberts 705-635-2522 or [email protected] for information and partnerships.
The following winners are for Tuesday, Aug 21 with 23 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Donna Tikuisis and Peter Tikuisis; 2. Josee Hammill and Andrea Killackey; 3. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 4. Vern Foell and Rod Dixon; 5. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 6. Diane Taylor and Martin Taylor; East-West 1. Sheila Jenset and Karen Harder; 2. Marjorie Clark and John Clark; 3. Bev Howard and David Bryce; 4. Art Insley and Denis Evans; 5. Susan Marshall and Jan Roberts; 6. Barb Green and Carol Sullivan
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected]
The following winners are from Monday, Aug 20 with 23 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. First of all, congratulations to Anne Hampton and Bill Hampton for their 70% game. North-South 1. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 2. Mary Luke and Donna McIntosh; 3. Diane Taylor and Martin Taylor; 4. Andrea Killackey and Terry Killackey; 5. Virginia Warren and Angus Warren; 6. Lyn Walisser and Bev Howard;
East-West 1. Anne Hampton and Bill Hampton; 2. Jennifer Thompson and Sheila Robinson; 3. Sheila Jenset and Karen Harder; 4. Gaye Kastning and Bill Kastning; 5. Gerry Flaherty and Ralph Hair; 6. Gail Lederer and David Bryce
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