Warning: The following subject matter has been rated "E" for Experienced Players only.
This post continues on with the learning we did a few posts ago. Read this post first if you haven't already:
Bidding in Competition -- Learning how to CUEBID
"Hey, Heidi! I just love that new competitive cuebid -- can I use that when my Partner OVERCALLS!?!"
ABSOLUTELY!
This is the best time for it. When Partner overcalls at the 1 level they don't even need an opening hand. But they could have an opening hand or even better. Cuebid the suit the Opponents opened to show your limit raise or better. That way you can show Partner you have a nice raise in your suit without going past the TWO level.
This does show support when Partner overcalls a major. When Partner overcalls a minor it might just be a forcing bid looking for NT. Even if you do have support in a minor you are mostly looking to play in NT in any case. NT just scores so much better.
So let's review the bids we know to make after Partner overcalled. We are doing this little review because they DON'T come up very often and the point count is slightly different when Partner overcalls verses opens the bidding. Once we review we can add the new bids to the pile.
A new suit is still forcing. You can play this non forcing -- partnership agreement. But Standard is forcing.
Values for the new suit depend on whether or not the suit overcalled was at the 1 level or the 2 level and also depends on whether on not the new suit was bid at the 1 level or 2 level.
The point count for bidding any level of NT remains the same. Note that these values are different compared with if Partner opened the bidding! As they should be. Opener has an opening hand but the Overcaller may not.
After a 1 level overcall:
1NT still shows 8 to 12 HCP.
2NT still shows 13 to 15 HCP.
3NT still shows 16 or more HCP.
After a 2 level overcall -- remember with a 2 level overcall Partner is supposed to have an opening hand so with an opening hand you need to bid a game!:
2NT still shows 11 or 12 HCP.
3NT still shows 13 or more HCP.
Yes, all NT bids require a STOPPER in Opener's suit and a (somewhat) balanced hand.
Now with the cuebid all JUMP RAISES of Partner's suit are PRE-EMPTIVE. That means that you get to jump to BOTH the 3 level AND the 4 level to show a weak hand. The difference between the two bids is the number of trump you hold.
Why would we want to do this? Why would we want to bid higher with fewer points?
Just like before, if you have a weak hand chances are the Opponents have more points then you. That means they will want to play the contract somewhere. Take away all that room in the auction so it is not so easy for them to figure out where! You don't have to worry about going down because you need extra trump to make these pre-emptive raises so you should be safe because of those extra trump. You might still go down but going down should be better for you than allowing the Opponents to play their contract.
So basically we are still doing this to really mess up the Opponents!
If you have a limit raise (11 or more points) or better in Partner's suit and want to support Partner right away you can now utilize that cuebid that works so well after Partner opens.
Whew! That is quite a bit.
So let's go over all these bids again with examples:
Bidding a New Suit at the 1 Level after Partner overcalls at the 1 Level
After a 1 level overcall, bidding a new suit at the 1 level is forcing and shows a decent FIVE card suit but also does not limit your hand so you could be much stronger. You should have enough to overcall yourself. Yes, you are supposed to have a FIVE card suit. Why are you taking Partner out of their good five card suit to play in your bad four card suit? You wouldn't. You need to have the good five card suit yourself. (Yes, I know, everyone ignores this rule. I've checked and double checked websites but that's what the experts still say.)
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♥
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠KQJ83
♥43
♦K82
♣J62
Bid 1♠. You could find a fit. If you don't maybe Partner can bid 1NT. Even if you don't find a fit and the Opponent's get to play the contract you get Partner off to the right lead.
Bidding a New Suit at the 2 Level after Partner overcalls at the 1 Level
After a 1 level overcall, bidding a new suit at the 2 level is forcing, shows a decent FIVE card suit and you should have a stronger hand. You should have close to an opening hand yourself. This is essentially the same as making a 2 level overcall because Partner does not promise all that much to make their 1 level overcall. A good suit with length can make up for some values however.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠J3
♥AQJT83
♦K2
♣J62
Bid 2♥. You could find a fit. Even if you don't maybe Partner can bid NT.
Bidding a New Suit at the 2 Level after Partner overcalls at the 2 Level
After a 2 level overcall, bidding a new suit at the 2 level is forcing, shows a decent FIVE card suit and but you don't need as many values. Partner is supposed to have an opening hand to overcall at the 2 level. You should have about 10 HCP or more.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
2♣
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠83
♥AQJT83
♦Q2
♣J62
Bid 2♥. You could find a fit. Even if you don't you can always go back to your ♣ fit.
Bidding Any Level of NT
After any interference, bidding any level of NT guarantees a stopper in the opponents suit PLUS a balanced hand. You are no longer forced to bid and should therefore be descriptive when you do bid.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠J3
♥K842
♦K962
♣J52
Pass. You cannot bid 1NT because you don't have the Opponent's suit stopped. You cannot raise Partner. You cannot bid a new suit. You don't have a bid.
Example 2
Same auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠J3
♥Q42
♦Q962
♣AQ52
Bid 1NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and about 8-12 HCP.
Example 3
Same auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠K3
♥K43
♦QT82
♣AQ82
Bid 2NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and about 13 to 15 HCP.
Example 4
Same auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠K3
♥K43
♦AT82
♣AQ82
Bid 3NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and 16+ HCP.
Example 5
Different auction -- this time Partner made a 2 level overcall:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
2♣
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠AJT8
♥K43
♦QT82
♣J8
Bid 2NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and about 11 or 12 HCP. Remember Partner with their 2 level overcall should have close to an opening hand.
Example 6
Same auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
2♣
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠AJT8
♥K43
♦QT82
♣K8
Bid 3NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and 13 or more HCP. Remember Partner with their 2 level overcall should have close to an opening hand.
Single Raise of Partner's Suit
Raising Partner’s suit one level shows the same 6 to a bad 10 points with a fit.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠KJ3
♥Q43
♦Q82
♣T862
Bid 2♠. Tell Partner you have a fit for their major and about 6-10 points.
Here's the new stuff. This will really mess up the Opponents!
Preemptive Raise of Partner's Suit
After any interference, jumping in Partner’s suit is PRE-EMPTIVE and shows extra trump (bid to your LAW Level) plus a very weak hand with little to no defence.
(What is your LAW Level? Count the number of trumps between your hand and your Partner's hand. Subtract six for the book. That is your LAW Level.
If Partner overcalled 1 of a major they should have FIVE trump. If you have FOUR trump together the partnership holds NINE trump. Subtract six for the book. You get THREE. That is the level you bid to.
If Partner overcalled 1 of a major they should have FIVE trump. If you also have FIVE trump together the partnership holds TEN trump. Subtract six for the book. You get FOUR. That is the level you bid to.)
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠KQ83
♥3
♦87542
♣862
Bid 3♠. Tell Partner you have a weak hand with four trump for them.
At this point the Opponents have to guess whether or not they have enough to play at the FOUR level. But they are guessing at the FOUR level. You are not allowing them to take the time to explore whether or not they want to be that high. They have to decide NOW.
Example 2
Same auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠KQ863
♥3
♦87542
♣82
Bid 4♠. Tell Partner you have a weak hand with five trump for them.
At this point the Opponents have to guess whether or not they have enough to play at the FIVE level. But they are guessing at the FIVE level. You are not allowing them to take the time to explore whether or not they want to be that high. They have to decide NOW.
Cuebid of the Opponent's Suit
When Partner overcalls a major you can show a limit raise (or better) with a CUEBID of the opponent’s opening bid suit.
(What is a limit raise? Basically a limit raise shows about 11 or 12 points with support for Partner's opening suit.)
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Opener
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
Pass
???
Your hand:
♠KQ83
♥A3
♦8742
♣KJ2
You've got a nice hand and if Partner has a good overcall you do want to get to a game. But if Partner just has a minimum overcall maybe not.
Bid 2♣. Tell Partner you have a ♠ fit with them and limit raise values or better. So at least 11 points with support for their ♠. They will bid again and if they have a good overcall Partner can bid a game. But this way if Partner is minimum you can stay safe and happy at the 2 level only.
Let's practice. That always helps!
On the following hands your LHO is going to open 1♥. Your Partner is going to overcall 1♠. RHO will "Pass". What are YOU going to do???
Hand 1
This is the auction:
In a non competitive auction the goal of bidding is to determine what suit (if any) the partnership belongs in and also what level the partnership wants to play in – Part Score, Game or Slam.
In a competitive auction that changes. Now the primary goal is to fight for the contract. You still want to find your best fit but sometimes the goal changes to stopping the Opponents from finding their best fit! In a competitive auction you sometimes need to bid higher than you would like to in order to stop the Opponents from playing (and making!) the contract.
Since the goal of bidding changes when the Opponents interfere, the bids also need to change.
The biggest change is that now all JUMP RAISES of Partner's suit are PRE-EMPTIVE. That means that you get to jump to BOTH the 3 level AND the 4 level to show a weak hand. The difference between the two bids is the number of trump you hold.
Why would we want to do this? Why would we want to bid higher with fewer points?
If you have a weak hand chances are the Opponents have more points then you. That means they will want to play the contract somewhere. Take away all that room in the auction so it is not so easy for them to figure out where! You don't have to worry about going down because you need extra trump to make these pre-emptive raises so you should be safe because of those extra trump. You might still go down but going down should be better for you than allowing the Opponents to play their contract.
So basically we are doing this to really mess up the Opponents! It's like a weak 2 pre-empt. Get the bidding up high, quickly so the Opponents have to guess what to do. Sometimes they guess wrong.
However sometimes you have a nice hand (11 or more points) and want to support Partner. What can you do now if any raise shows a weak hand?
Stay tuned. We've got that covered. Let's just review the basics.
Most bids remain the same.
A new suit at the 1 level is still forcing and shows 6 HCP or more.
A new suit at the 2 level after an overcall is still forcing and shows 10 HCP or more. (If the Opponents "Double" instead of bidding a suit things will change here but we shall ignore that for now.)
The point count for bidding any level of NT remains the same:
1NT still shows 6 to 10 HCP.
2NT still shows 11 or 12 HCP -- If you and your Partner play the Jacoby 2NT bid the Jacoby 2NT gets CANCELLED because the Opponents have bid.
3NT still shows 13 to 15 HCP.
However now ALL NT bids show a STOPPER in the Opponent's suit. A STOPPER is a guaranteed winner. You must be able to make sure the Opponents will not take the first five tricks if they lead that suit. After all you never know if Partner will raise your NT bid to 3NT where you will need nine tricks. If the Opponents can take the first five tricks it is impossible to take the next nine!
Not only do NT bids show a stopper but they also show a balanced hand. After all you are no longer forced to bid with 6 HCP like you were if the Opponents did not bid.
You can still make a pre-emptive raise to 4 of Partner's major.
Now you can make a pre-emptive raise to 3 of Partner's major.
How do you show a nice raise of Partner's suit?
To show a limit raise (or better!) of Partner's suit we can CUEBID the Opponent's suit. That means bid the same suit the Opponents bid but at the next level. This will show a limit raise (or better) in Partner's opening suit. (A limit raise is about 11 or 12 points. You still get to count Dummy points also so don't forget them!)
Note that NONE of these new bids require Alerts. They are all considered Standard Bidding.
So let's go over all these bids again with examples:
Bidding a New Suit at the 1 Level
After any interference, bidding a new suit at the 1 level is still forcing and shows at least 6 or more HCP but also does not limit your hand so you could be much stronger.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♦
???
Your hand:
♠AK83
♥43
♦T82
♣J862
Bid 1♠. Even if you don't find a fit you might get Partner off to the right lead.
Bidding a New Suit at the 2 Level After an Overcall
After an Overcall, bidding a new suit at the 2 level is still forcing and shows at least 10 or more HCP.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠K83
♥KQT43
♦Q82
♣K82
Bid 2♥. Tell Partner you have at least five ♥ and at least 10 HCP.
Bidding Any Level of NT
After any interference, bidding any level of NT guarantees a stopper in the opponents suit PLUS a balanced hand. You are no longer forced to bid and should therefore be descriptive when you do bid.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠J83
♥Q42
♦Q962
♣Q52
Pass. You cannot bid 1NT because you don't have the Opponent's suit stopped. If your RHO had not bid you would probably have bid 1NT. You can no longer do that because you do not have a stopper in the suit RHO overcalled.
Example 2
Same auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠KJ83
♥T43
♦Q82
♣Q82
Bid 1NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and 6-10 HCP.
Example 3
Same auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠KJ83
♥K43
♦Q82
♣Q82
Bid 2NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and 11 or 12 HCP.
Example 4
Same auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠KJ83
♥AQ3
♦Q82
♣Q82
Bid 3NT. Tell Partner you have a winner in the Opponent's suit and 13-15 HCP.
Single Raise of Partner's Suit
After any interference, raising Partner’s suit 1 level shows the same 6 to a bad 10 points with a fit.
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♣
1♠
???
Your hand:
♠J3
♥Q43
♦Q82
♣KT862
Bid 2♣. Tell Partner you have a fit for their minor and about 6-10 points.
Here's the new stuff. This will really mess up the Opponents!
Preemptive Raise of Partner's Suit
After any interference, jumping in Partner’s suit is PRE-EMPTIVE and shows extra trump (bid to your LAW Level) plus a very weak hand with little to no defence.
(What is your LAW Level? Count the number of trumps between your hand and your Partner's hand. Subtract six for the book. That is your LAW Level.
If Partner opened 1 of a major they should have FIVE trump. If you have FOUR trump together the partnership holds NINE trump. Subtract six for the book. You get THREE. That is the level you bid to.
If Partner opened 1 of a major they should have FIVE trump. If you also have FIVE trump together the partnership holds TEN trump. Subtract six for the book. You get FOUR. That is the level you bid to.)
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
Double
???
Your hand:
♠KQ83
♥3
♦87542
♣862
Bid 3♠. Tell Partner you have a weak hand with four trump for them.
At this point the Opponents have to guess whether or not they have enough to play at the FOUR level. But they are guessing at the FOUR level. You are not allowing them to take the time to explore whether or not they want to be that high. They have to decide NOW.
Example 2
Same auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
Double
???
Your hand:
♠KQ863
♥3
♦87542
♣82
Bid 4♠. Tell Partner you have a weak hand with five trump for them.
At this point the Opponents have to guess whether or not they have enough to play at the FIVE level. But they are guessing at the FIVE level. You are not allowing them to take the time to explore whether or not they want to be that high. They have to decide NOW.
Cuebid of the Opponent's Suit
After an Overcall, all limit raises (or better) begin with a CUEBID of the opponent’s suit.
(What is a limit raise? Basically a limit raise shows about 11 or 12 points with support for Partner's opening suit.)
Example 1
Let's look at this auction:
Partner
Your Right Hand Opponent
YOU!
1♠
2♦
???
Your hand:
♠KQ83
♥A3
♦8742
♣KJ2
You've got a nice hand and you do want to get to a game. Problem is that bidding game right now shows a WEAK hand with five trump. That's not good. You would have made a Jacoby 2NT bid (if you played them) but that bid is no longer applicable when the Opponents stick a bid in. You COULD bid a new suit because that is forcing but you can also SHOW PARTNER SUPPORT right away by cuebidding the Opponents suit.
Bid 3♦. Tell Partner you have a ♠ fit with them and limit raise values or better. So at least 11 points with support for their ♠. They will bid again and if they don't bid a game YOU CAN. But this way if Partner is very strong they might explore a slam because they know you have values rather than just a weak hand with lots of trump.
Let's practice. That always helps!
On the following hands Partner is going to open 1♥. Your RHO is going to overcall 1♠. What are YOU going to do???
Hand 1
This is the auction:
