8.0 Cue Bid Confusion

There have been many questions about cue bids, and many advancing players find them confusing since they are so context-sensitive. Here’s a roadmap.

The Direct Cue Bid

Let’s define this one as a cue bid made as the first entry for your side into the bidding. Most of the time, we play it as a Michael’s Cue Bid, showing the unbid majors. These cue bids say nothing about your holding in the suit bid.

Examples:

Exceptions

If the opponents have bid two suits, I prefer to play that a bid of either suit is natural.

These should both be natural. You have other ways to show 2-suited hands:

Over a preemptive opening, a direct cue bid should show a strong two-suited hand, with the suits unknown.

We define this one as strong, whereas the Michael’s cue bid in the preceding examples might be a weak, preemptive action. This is consistent with the belief that one should not preempt against a preempt.

Cue Bids as Responses to Partner in a Competitive Auction

When partner opens the bidding and the next player overcalls, or if LHO opens the bidding and partner overcalls, we play the double raise as showing a weak hand with at least 4-card support. We use the cue bid here as showing a limit raise or better for partner’s suit, as long as it is below our partner’s suit at the three level. The cue bid here does not say anything at all about your holding in the suit you bid. For example:

However:

This had better be stronger than a limit raise, since you’re forcing our side into a game contract. It shows a raise to 4♠ based on values instead of just distribution. It also says that if they bid over 4♠, we must go on to 5♠ or double them. The immediate jump to 4♠ would show a preemptive hand, and we would not be forced to act if they take a sacrifice bid. So, although this last example doesn’t show a “limit raise” it does show partner’s suit, and some strength, so at least it is consistent in intent.

Another strength-showing raise would be

This should show a hand worth forcing to game, probably with hearts, but possibly just a strong playing hand for diamonds. It doesn’t say anything about spades, but 3♥ and 3♦ here would be non-forcing, and a jump to 4♥ or 4♦ would make any slam investigation difficult.

Another place for a general strength-showing cue bid is after partner makes a takeout double:

This shows 12+ points and is forcing for one round (promises a rebid), in contrast with responding 1♠ which would show 0-8 points, and 2♠ which would show 9-11 points.

Cue Bids During Constructive Auctions

When you and your partner are in a game forcing auction, and have agreed on a trump suit, if there is room below game, we try to show our controls of the side suits if it is at all possible for us to have a slam. The general idea is to use the room below game to show whether or not we have control of the side suits, and if so, and there are values for slam, we can then bid Blackwood, check for missing key cards, and go on or stop as indicated.

The general rules for these cue bids follow:

1. We show our cheapest controls first.
2. We show first or second round control, that is Ace or void, King or singleton with the exception that we do not cue bid shortness in partner’s naturally bid suit.
3. If your agreed suit is a minor, don’t cue bid shortness if the auction is below 3NT, since that remains the obvious game contract.
4. If your partner has shown a suit naturally, you may cue bid the Ace, King, or Queen of partner’s suit.
5. If you cue bid a suit for the first time at the five-level, you must have first round control.

In some specific auctions, we use 3NT as a special bid that says “I want to try for slam”, and failure to bid 3NT in these auctions says “I have a control to show in case you have a good hand, but I don’t have any extra values”. This is called a “courtesy” cue bid, or “non-serious” cuebid. These auctions are very specific — look in the section on Major Suits for the times when Serious 3NT applies.

A courtesy cue bid:

This cue bid doesn’t show any extra values, just that the opener has control of clubs. If, on the other hand, we waited until we had a clear slam try to cue bid, and had only signing off in 4♠ as an alternative, partner would have to risk bidding beyond game to try if all he needed was control of one specific suit. This is an auction where 3NT would say you had a good hand with values for a slam try, and the cue bid is just a courtesy. Because opener has denied the values for slam, if responder cue bids back, she shows extra values as well as control of the bid suit.

Here, partner has shown a maximum 1NT bid with 4-card support for hearts, so there is no need for us to be bidding other suits. This would show 1st or 2nd round control of spades, and a hand good enough for us to have slam chances. There are no “courtesy cue bids” or Serious 3NT here, since the 1NT opener, for all that he’s said he likes his hand, is limited, so there’s no need.

4♦ is a splinter in support of spades, 4♥ is a cue bid, trying for slam. Most likely opener has a good hand but needs to hear club control before going to slam. Again, since responder is limited (10-12 HCP) there are no “courtesy” cue bids.

This shows a maximum, some help in clubs and control of hearts (denying control of diamonds since you skipped that suit).

Notice, however, that partner’s 3♣ bid is not a cue bid, but a second suit. It is possible that this is a game try or a slam try. With an exceptional hand, you should allow for it to be a slam try and show your controls as above.

7.2.3 Taking Sacrifices