ITALIAN CUEBID

Welcome to the Convention-of-the-Week Club.

( Thanks to BridgeToDay-Matts )

May 7, 2002

Preview:

You pick up:

♠ JTxx

♥ AKQx

♦ xx

♣ JTx

Partner opens 1S. You make a limit raise of 3S. Partner bids 4D. What is your call?

Convention of the Week: Italian Cuebids

---------------

This is a style of cue bidding where you cue bid first- or second-round controls (aces, kings, voids, singletons) indiscriminately. Combined with Blackwood or Keycard Blackwood, it makes an effective slam investigatory method.

One of the advantages of this method is that you can locate a suit where the partnership is off the first two tricks, and stop on a dime in game.

For example:

♠ AQxx ♠ KJTxxx

♥ Jxx ♥ T9x

♦ AKxx ♦ QJ

♣ Qx ♣ AK

1NT 2H (transfer)

3S 4C

4D 4S

pass

Responder transfers to spades; opener shows four trumps. Responder

cuebids 4C; opener cuebids 4D, and responder bids 4S, denying a heart control. The partnership stops just in time.

♠ KQxx ♠ AJxxx

♥ KQ ♥ xx

♦ xx ♦ Axx

♣ AQxxx ♣ KJx

1C 1S

3S 4C

4H 4NT

5S 6S

Responder learns about the heart control at the four level and can bid Keycard Blackwood, locating two keycards and the trump queen, just enough for slam.

One of the important points about Italian cuebids is that when partner skips a suit, denying a control in that suit, you must sign off immediately if you don't have a control either. Let's look at the opening preview hand:

You pick up:

♠ JTxx

♥ AKQx

♦ xx

♣ JTx

Partner opens 1S. You make a limit raise of 3S. Partner bids 4D. What is your call?

Partner's 4D bid has denied a club control, so you must bid 4S. A bid of 4H would promise that you hold a club control (indeed, whether it says you hold a heart control is a problem for a high-level partnership discussion!).

Partner held:

♠ AKQxxx

♥ x

♦ AKQ

♣ xxx

It would be great to stop in 4S, wouldn't it?

What do you lose by playing Italian Cuebids?

---------------------------------------------

You lose the natural slam try in a new suit. For example, if you belong in slam in a different suit than your first agreed trump suit, you might not be able to find this fit:

♠ AKxxx ♠ QJxx

♥ Ax ♥ xx

♦ QJxx ♦ AKxx

♣ Ax ♣ Jxx

1S 3S

4D 6D

pass

Simple, old-fashioned bidding reaches the best spot. Six spades is down one but six diamonds makes when diamonds are 3-2.

You also lose when you tell the opening leader what to lead or how to defend, because you squealed in the bidding about where your weakness is. For example:

♠ Axxx ♠ Kxxxx

♥ x ♥ AKxx

♦ Qxx ♦ xxx

♣ AQJxx ♣ K

1C 1S

3S 4C

4H 4S

pass

Good stop, but the opening leader has the KJx of diamonds and the QJT of hearts and leads a diamond, knowing that's your weakness. Trumps are 3-1 so you are down one. Or trumps are 2-2, but after they cash three diamond tricks a fourth round of diamonds is led, trumped by an opponent, promoting a trump trick for them.

Even if they take only three diamond tricks, you'd get a poor score at matchpoints. Meanwhile, the player who simply bids 6S over 3S without the cuebidding gets a heart lead and wraps up the slam. (Of course, even playing Italian Cuebids, you can choose not to go through the motions.)

Check List:

Italian Cuebids : cuebids in which you bid up the line to show first or second-round controls indiscriminately.

__ Use in conjunction with Keycard Blackwood

___ When your partner bypasses a suit, showing no control, your next cuebid shows control of the suit he bypassed (and if it's the very next suit, may not be showing a control of the suit bid!)

Tip: When a cuebid is doubled, you may want to establish meanings for a pass, redouble or bid. There are many variations, and you may want to be able to show the queen as well (in case partner cuebid the king). Have fun working out the possibilities!