Yet another variety of the Tortured Cuebid Auction:
North East South West
1D 1S DBL 3S* * (Preemptive)
Pass Pass 4S Pass
5D Pass ?
North: ♠KQ3 ♥J6 ♦A8754 ♣K42
South: ♠10 ♥AKQ4 ♦KJ ♣QJ10753
South fell in love with his hand and, fearing that partner might pass 4C, decided to force with a space-eating cuebid. There’s no perfect bid with this hand, but almost anything is better than his choice of heading for slam before finding the right game.
A cuebid of the opponent’s suit should always say more than just “I have a good hand”. At low levels, responder’s cuebid usually shows support for opener’s suit or asks for a stopper for notrump. Above 3NT, it’s a control bid if you’ve already confirmed a trump suit, a strong supporting bid if you haven’t.
Partner will interpret an ambiguous cuebid as a fit for his suit, and that’s what happened here. North, assuming 4S was a try for a diamond slam, signed off at 5D, leaving South squirming. If South had stopped to consider how partner would interpret 4S, he would have risked 4C (which should be forcing) or a double, which is the only way to get to 3NT. Double also gives partner the option of passing, which could be the best result if the opponents are vulnerable.
An unnecessary cuebid can backfire even when you know where you’re going:
North East South West
1D 2D* 3D Pass * (Michaels – both majors)
3H Pass 3NT Pass
4D Pass 5C Pass
?
North: ♠2 ♥AK6 ♦AJ1063 ♣KQJ7
South: ♠Q86 ♥543 ♦K7542 ♣A3
North considered his 3H cuebid as a “free” move toward slam. It might elicit a cuebid from partner, and if not, he could always Blackwood later. South, however, read 3H as a notrump search that showed heart values and asked for a spade stopper, and his 3NT rebid threw a wrench into the grand plan.
North now had to worry about the possibility that partner would take 4NT as a notrump raise instead of keycard Blackwood, so he rebid 4D. That confirmed his slam intentions and talked partner into showing the club ace, but North was still guessing about the trump king. It was an awkward problem that could have been avoided if he had bid a direct 4NT over 3D.
An impulsive cuebid is sometimes an attempt to delay a decision or transfer control to partner.
North East South West
2H DBL Pass
3S Pass 4H Pass
4S Pass 4NT Pass
5C Pass 5S All pass
North: ♠K9543 ♥Q102 ♦Q ♣QJ52
South: ♠AQ82 ♥3 ♦AKJ92 ♣A83
South couldn’t make up his mind about slam chances, so he punted with a cuebid. He was hoping for divine inspiration at his next turn or, better, that he could convince partner to Blackwood.
North rebid 4S, as expected, and now South decided to ask for keycards. He knew he’d made a poor choice, though, when partner didn’t give a prompt reply.
A thoughtful bidder will always try to determine a logical explanation for his partner’s strategy. Here, North reasoned that if South wanted to Blackwood for spades, he surely would have bid 4NT over 3S, especially since he had learned nothing new from the extra round of bidding. His cuebid-then-4NT auction must therefore be describing a different type of hand. North concluded that partner was trying to get him to choose another suit, so he bid a natural 5C. South thought this was a Blackwood response showing zero keycards, so he signed off at 5S and missed a good slam.
At best, these “mark-time” cuebids needlessly extend your auctions. At worst, partner may read more into them than you intended. Before succumbing to the urge to make one, put yourself in partner’s seat, imagine some hands he might hold and plan how you’ll handle his possible rebids.
© 2010 Karen Walker