"Breakfast of Champions" Cuebids redux by Marti Ronemus

What did you have for breakfast today? Cereal? Bacon and eggs? Toast? This has not what breakfast looked like in days of yore.

Back around 1900, a typical middle-class breakfast was a leaden meal that should have put people in a coma. Pig trotters in aspic, rice-and-meat croquettes, roast chicken in gelatin. Platters of seasonal veggies.

During WWI, under the guidance of Fannie Farmer (I still have my Fannie Farmer cookbook!) people ate fried hominy with maple syrup, often with fried vegetables and sliced peaches.

And how about this from 1922? Grapefruit, codfish cakes and bacon muffins. During the depression in the 30s, folks ate hot cereal and creamed codfish on toast.

It wasn't until the 50s that breakfast evolved into something we might actually eat today.

And interestingly, it was during the 50s that our game of bridge began to evolve into something we would recognize today, under the guidance of Charles Goren and others. Do you think our bids today would pass muster? Let's see if we can find the perfect contracts.

Friday we looked at how useful a cuebid can be when Pard overcalls. We saw that since Pard's overcall can be anywhere between 7 and 17 pts, we as Advancer need a tool to differentiate between our merely having a fit with a weak hand and our having a NICE hand with a fit with the overcaller.

We saw that a cuebid response to an overcall promises a fit and 10-plus pts. The cuebid requires that we bid again showing our point count.

Today we move to the other side of the table. We overcalled and Pard cuebid, demanding to know more about our hand. Here are the responses to a cuebid. So simple. If we overcalled with a less-than-opening hand (7 to a ratty 11-ish), we rebid "our" suit at the cheapest possible level.

With 12-14 pts (a minimum opening hand) we jump one level or show something else about our hand. This is invitational over what could be the cuebidder's just 10 pts.

With 15-17 pts, we go to game. Remember, Pard's cuebid promised 10-plus pts. We have game, so bid it. Here we go...

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ 8 6 5
♥ K Q J 8 7
♦ Q 9 4
♣ 3 2

Q: 1 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
1♥	Pass	2♣	Pass
?

A: 2♥: Pard's cuebid asked where we are on the scale of 7-17. We can't get much lower, so we're going to bid our suit as cheaply as we can, 2♥. Remember, the cuebid promised Pard has a fit with us. Without the cuebid, we could be in horrid trouble.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ A 6 5
♥ K Q J 8 7
♦ Q 9 4
♣ 3 2

Q: 2 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
1♥	Pass	2♣	Pass
?

A: 3♥: We now have an opening hand, albeit a weak one. Pard's cuebid asked us to show our point count, and we do with our jump. We are saying "12-14 pts." Notice our bid is the first limiting bid of the auction. We are inviting Pard.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ A 6 5
♥ K Q J 8 7
♦ Q 9 4
♣ A 2

Q: 3 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♣
1♥	Pass	2♣	Pass
?

A: 4♥: We have the maximum for a simple overcall, and we need to show that. Pard has at least 10 pts, so we have game. We are not inviting like we did with the last hand. We are showing what we have. Game.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A 6 5
♥ K Q J 8 7
♦ Q 9 4
♣ 3 2

Q: 4 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♠
2♥	Pass	2♠	Pass
?

A: 3♥: Pard's cuebid asked us to further define our hand. Since our overcall promised at least 10 pts at the two-level, we show Pard we don't necessarily have game, but are inviting.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A Q 9 4
♥ K Q J 8 7
♦ J 4
♣ 3 2

Q: 5 - South?:

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	1♦
1♥	Pass	2♦	Pass
?

A: 2♠: We could bid 3♥ to show an invitational hand (opposite Pard's known 10 pts) and that would be correct, so give yourself a point if you did that. BUT!! Why not take this opportunity to give Pard more information about our hand? Maybe if we bid 3♥ inviting, he would be on the fence. Maybe knowing that we've got nine cards in two suits with help in Spades will help him make a decision. If we had game-going values, 15-17, we'd go directly to game. But with 12-14, we can either jump a level or tell Pard about another suit. Let's take advantage of that option.

And now that we've finished our nutritious delicious breakfast, we're ready for our hand.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

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

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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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