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Looking for slams

Cue Bidding

Cue bidding is one of the two important checks that you and your partner can go through when you think you might have a slam (the other being Key Card Blackwood) to make sure that your opponents can’t just take two tricks right away to defeat you contract.

Try some hands

Hand 1

In your first few bids, you should find a way to show both a game forcing hand and a hand with spade support. After this, your partner will make a curious bid at the four level and you can respond in kind. When you play the hand, you need to try and figure out the best way to make tricks with all of your spades.

 Hand 2

After your partner jump shifts to show a game forcing hand, you can show your support for their suit at the lowest level to show a bit of extra strength. From there, the cuebidding can begin! Once you know you have all the controls, slam looks like a good contract. You should take all the chances you can to avoid a loser in hearts.

 Hand 3

After your partner shows support and a bit extra by supporting you below the level of game, you can start cuebidding. After your partner appears to sign off in game, you need to decide whether to keep pushing…

 Hand 4

After your partner starts cuebidding, you need to make some deductions and figure out what level you should be playing at.
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Cue bidding

Learn how to exchange information with your partner about the suits in which you hold controls and make sure the slams you bid are good ones!

Question 1/5

Penelope has raised Walter’s hearts with her rebid, agreeing hearts as trumps. What should she bid now, after Walter’s 3♠ cue bid?

Once Penelope raised hearts, that suit became the agreed trump suit. Walter's 3♠ bid is therefore a cue bid, showing some interest in slam (he could have passed 2♥ with a weak hand, , bid 3♣ or 3♦ as a game try, or jumped straight to 4♥ with a game forcing hand that had no interest in slam). Now that her partner has started a cue bidding sequence, Penelope should show her controls in ascending order of suits. She doesn't have a control in clubs, so she bypasses that suit and shows her diamond control. Remember, controls are aces or kings, singletons or voids.

Again, Penelope has raised the suit in which Walter responded initially, agreeing spades as trumps. This time, though, she has jumped a level, showing a stronger hand. Walter initiates a cue bidding sequence with his 4♣ bid and Penelope shows a diamond control. What should Walter do now?

Even though he loves his shapely hand, Walter cannot 'see' a heart control. He doesn't have one in his hand and Penelope has not had the opportunity to show or deny one. He must sign off in 4♠. This is by no means the end of his slam hopes, though. He has shown interest when he bid 4♣ and if Penelope has a heart control she can now bid Key Card Blackwood, which you will learn about soon.

Walter has made a game forcing response before supporting Penelope’s opening suit after her 2NT rebid, so he is agreeing spades as trumps. Penelope starts the cue bidding sequence with her 4♦ bid. What should Walter be thinking now?

Penelope has denied a club control when she started cue bidding with 4♦. This does not trouble Walter, however, as he has a club control himself. He can also see a heart control, as he has a singleton, so he knows that they have controls in every suit between the two of them. There is no need for further cue bidding and he can move on the next stage of the slam auction: Key Card Blackwood.

After a 1♦ opening from Penelope and a 1♠ response from Walter, Penelope shows the lower ranking of her two four card suits by bidding 2♣, and Walter bids 2♥. What should Penelope bid next?

This is a bit of a trick question. No trump suit has been agreed here, so no cue bidding is appropriate. 2♥ from Walter is just fourth suit forcing - he is not necessarily showing hearts. Penelope's best bid here is 3NT because she doesn't have any spade support but she does have a stop in the fourth suit.

Walter has raised Penelope’s spades, agreeing the suit as trumps. Now Penelope has started cue bidding with her 4♦ bid, denying a club control. What should Walter bid next?

After Walter shows his invitational spade raise, Penelope cue bids 4♦, showing interest in slam. She has bypassed clubs so she is denying a club control. Although Walter does have a heart control, he should not show it in this auction because if he carries on cue bidding after his partner skips a suit he shows a control not only in the suit he bids but also a control in the skipped suit. He does not have a club control so he must sign off in 4♠.

The links will take you to the Bridge Training website, where you can have a go at making and responding to cuebids. You will then be able to play the hands and see if you can make your contract. Have as many goes as you like if you don’t succeed the first time.