"Crackers Over the Keyboard Day" by Marti Ronemus

I almost passed over this day on my calendar of observances until I looked down at my keyboard and saw all the flakes, dust and heaven-knows-what stuck between the keys. Hmmm. Food for thought (pun intended).

Let's expand the spirit of this day to include the concept of taking care of all our "tools," including bidding tools. Today I want to talk about using a cuebid of the opponent's suit when your partner has overcalled.

A one-level overcall can show anywhere between 7-ish and 17-ish points. If you are the partner of the overcaller and you have a more than minimum hand with a fit, you need to know if it's 7 or 17. The cuebid is what makes overcalling with only 7 pts an exciting option. With the cuebid, we can stay out of trouble. Well, usually.

Today we're going to decide whether to cuebid or just to raise Pard. Friday we'll look at how to respond to the cuebid. Ready to brush away the crumbs?

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 10 8 4
♥ A 7 4 2
♦ 8 5
♣ K 7 5 4

Q: 1 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♠: Well, we have a fit, but we don't much care whether Pard has 7 or 17 pts. Remember this vital concept: In a competitive auction, raising your Pard's suit to any level (based on the Law of Total Tricks) is the weakest bid you can give.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 10 8 4
♥ 7 4
♦ 8 5 4
♣ K 7 5 4

Q: 2 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♦	1♠	Pass
?

A: 3♠: Did you get this wrong? Weren't you paying attention? We raise Pard to the level of our combined trumps. We have a nine-card fit, so we jump to 3♠. A raise of Pard's suit is the weakest bid we can make. This jump is NOT a limit raise, because we're in a competitive auction. This is a bid showing WEAKNESS.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 10
♥ A 7 4 2
♦ 8 5 4
♣ K 7 5 4

Q: 3 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♣	1♥	Pass
?

A: 2♣: Since any raise of Pard's suit shows a WEAK hand, how do we show a strong hand with a fit? We cuebid the opponent's suit. The cuebid guarantees a fit, 10-plus points, is forcing and asks Pard to show his overcall points (TBA on Monday). Notice that in this auction, no one has yet limited their hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ J 10
♥ Q 10
♦ A Q 9 8 7
♣ A 7 5 4

Q: 4 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♦: Nothing special here. We've got a nice hand with a suit of our own. Can't support Pard, so no cuebid.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ Q J 10 3
♥ Q 10
♦ A Q 9 8 7
♣ A 7

Q: 5 - South?

South	West	North	East
-	1♥	1♠	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Another perfect time for our new friend, the cuebid. We care a lot if Pard has a 7 pt hand or a 17 pt hand. We tell Pard we've got a fit, more than a minimum, and we need to know your point count so we can place the contract.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

Overall Results

Your results: out of Average:

What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
More informations on our website: www.VuBridge.com

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