Cue bidding may be initiated in any sequence once a trump suit is agreed. There are important exceptions of cue-bidding:
- Following a 2♣ opening - trump & control requests are employed See 2C & 4NT is used to disclose No of Kings.
- Any sequence disclosing a 5-5 2-suited hand of 10+ cards - specialised 3N, 4N & 5N inquiries are employed. See 5-5+
- Pre-emptive opening bids - an exceptionally strong responder may employ Blackwood NOT TURBO 4N
- There may be special situations where BLACKWOOD is more
appropriate as long as NO cue-bid has been issued then 4N Blackwood
cannotbe used as it would conflict with TURBO. However direct 4NT over
a game forcing bid is BLACKWOOD. However we advise that a cue-bidding
approach is more likely to reach good slams and to avoid bad slams.
Note:
once cue-bidding is initiated
TURBO automatically follows. NEVER BLACKWOOD.
Guiding Rules of Cue-bidding
Key definitions:
Primary suit: the agreed TRUMP suit (the denomination of the final contract)
Secondary suit another suit shown in the early round, usually in the first rounds of the bidding by the
partner of the eventual declarer
Tertiary suits: the other 2 suits
1. The first rule is to announce cue bids with minimum of passed over bids:
Law of Conservation of bidding space.
2. A corollary of the first rule implies a second rule: that any bid passed over, is an indication that it had ' had no valid cue-bid that could be made
at that moment. (if it possesses a 2nd round control in a suit in
a suit that partner subsequently exposes a 1st round
control then he may subsequently declare his 2nd
round control if the chance becomes available later on.
3. Cue-bids may be made in the secondary suit may also be Ace or King BUT King must not be shown before the Ace is shown or at the 1st opportunity.
4. Reverting to the primary (agreed) suit at the game level or beyond denies the Queen of trumps -
this does not necessarily end the auction. Partner may reopen the cue-bidding sequences right through to the end of the 5th level.
5.
Cue bids in tertiary suits, often shorter suits, may show Voids or Singletons as
well as Ace or King below game level however above game level it must be a
first round control
unless a previous cue bid is known to have announced a 1st round control (these by same bidder)
6. Cue bids made at the 5-level must be
either
a 1st round control in a suit not previously cue bid OR a 2nd round
control in any suit other than the primary suit . e.g. a singleton ace.
8. On normal cue-bidding sequences at least 4 cue bids are usually
possible below 4N. A player reaching and bidding 4NT shows an EVEN
number of KEY cards. By bypassing 4N and bidding a further
control EXCEPT in the agreed suit shows an ODD number of key cards and
now a further control. Returning to the agreed suit is a mechanism to
deny the Queen of the agreed suit.
9.
Cue bids are never made in the primary suit by the holder below 4N.
However his
partner may cue-bid any key cards in the primary suit. However above 4N
he may bid the agreed suit to deny the Queen of trumps. Again this is
not necessarily the end of bidding - partner may continue to slam or
feven a further cue-bid.
10. Only use the the return to the agreed suit to deny the Queen when
you believe you have reached the final level. But your partner is free
to continue to higher level. In these cases you may revert
back always to the agreed suit if calling a halt.
The bid of 4N by either player is TURBO and
will show a total EVEN Key Cards 2,4 or possibly 6 Key cards. These are
Aces & Kings of primary and secondary suits & Aces or voids of
tertiary suits. Its the total held and some may not be shown as yet.
WHILE bypassing 4N shows an ODD number of total key cards one of
which may not as yet been cued BUT must now be shown immediately above
4N or reverting to the agreed suit to deny Q of agreed trump suit and
suggest bidding summit is reached for you - again partner may have more
to say.
Cue bidding above level of game in the agreed suit
Now the eligibility of cue bids is tightened - this applies to both Major & minor slam bidding:
- An Ace or void can always be shown
- A King or singleton in side suits may only be shown IF a suit which has already been previously cue-bid by partner or himself to show a 1st round control.
- Cue-Bidding
a key suit for a 2nd time (not the trump suit - one bid normally in the
1st or possibly 2nd round of bidding) shows holding either AK or AQ or if known to be a short suit A singleton
- 5NT is a
special inquiry, concerned with bidding to 6 or 7 of the agreed suit
asking for any other undisclosed feature e.g. possibly Queens
doubletons reply below the agreed suit which could be relevant to the
decision. 6C shows 1 6D shows 2 such features, returning to 6 of the
agreed suit shows 0 additional features or even bid your self to the
grand slamif you are confident of it.
After absorbing cue bidding theory given above, please now examine
TURBO bidding BETA style in more detail.