If you are as old as I am (as far as I know none of my readers are) you may remember that old child’s game called “button, button, whose got the button.” In bridge, it is “stopper, stopper, whose got the stopper” also known as Western Cue Bid.
The purpose of the Western Cue Bid is to ask partner if he has a stopper in a suit bid by the opponents. Thus, we find a prime requisite for the Western Cue Bid is that it will only be used in competitive auctions. One more definitional issue before we move on. “What is a stopper?” There is some authority that when originally conceived it was the practice to use Western Cue Bid to find partial stoppers. For example, when opener has Jxx in a suit, a partial stop would be Qx held by partner. I think today it almost universally asks for a full stopper in the suit, meaning Qxx or better, but I always verify that criteria with partner. The objective or goal of the bid is to find a no trump game when no fit is immediately apparent. Thus, any bid of opponent’s suit at a level higher than 3NT means something else, usually showing a control and slam interest.
A Western Q bid auction might look something like this: 1c/1h/2d/p/2h. The 2 heart bid asks partner if he has a heart stopper and indicates a willingness to play a no trump contract. Since no one has bid spades, the heart cue bid also implies a spade stopper. If all is well in paradise, and partner has a stopper, he can bid 3NT with a game going values or bid 2NT with an invitational hand. If the response is 2NT, then opener will need 15+ hcps to continue to game. Notice that in this instance the auction enabled the Western cue bid to be made at the 2 level with a minimum balanced hand since responder showed 10+ with his 2 level free bid. Most of the time 23 hcps will make 2NT.
If the auction goes 1c/1h/2c/2h/3h, this is also a Western Cue bid even though both opponents have bid the suit. The difference is that opener must have the 15+ hcp hand since he is forcing partner to 3NT or a bail out at the 4 level. With Western Cue bid hands, the prelude will usually be that opener and partner have not found a suit fit and for that reason are searching for a no trump contract.
Other Western Cue Bid auctions could be 1c/x/xx/1h/2h or even 1c/p/1d/x/p/1h/2h. No matter what your understandings may be for constructive auctions, in competitive auctions Western Cue Bid is always "asking", never "telling". There is an important reason why it is asking. If partner has the stopper, he will be the no trump declarer and thus the lead will be coming up to the stopper hand. A problem common to most stopper showing bids is that the hand gets played wrong sided and the lead comes through the stopper hand. Not a good thing if the stopper is Kx.
Here is a final cue bid auction, but a frequent one. 1c/1h/2d/p/3c/p/3h. Here we have responder making the Western Cue bid. Either partner can institute the Western cue bid, but the activating partner becomes the “Captain” of the hand and has the responsibility to make sure that the auction doesn’t get out of control. In this case responder may have something like Axx, xx, AQxxx, Kxx and hopes partner has a heart stopper and can bring in the entire 6 card club suit at 3 NT. Western Cue bids are often used when one of the partners has a long running minor suit.
What about stopper showing when opponents open a weak 2 bid. Well this has nothing to do with Western Cue Bids, but the best solution is Lebensohl over Weak 2 Bids. I will write about this very useful treatment in a coming blog.
Is a Western Cue bid alertable? Well, no, since you are not supposed to have to wake up your opponents when you have just bid their suit! In fact, if you do alert, you will probably get a director call. That does not mean that you can’t mark Western Cue Bid on your convention card. I want partner to review our card before each game and putting the treatment on the card will serve as a reminder.
This would not be a blog authored by me if I did not heap a little scorn on useless overcalls, particularly minor suit overcalls with weak hands. I will say again, as I have in the past, that there is a cost to every overcall. Most often it is setting up a negative double or locating honors, suits and distribution, but in the case of a successful Western Cue bid auction, without the overcall, it may be impossible to find the stopper and the no trump game, or worse yet, we may have stumbled into 3NT without a stopper. Thanks guys!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
New Minor Forcing (NMF)
NMF primarily addresses how to find an 8+ card fit when responder has 5 cards in his first bid major suit and declarer has 3 card support. Eight card fits are important since they will out perform no trump contracts a majority of the time. Let’s start with that simple fit finding objective.
The bidding goes 1d/1s/1NT/2c. When we play NMF the bid of two clubs, (a new minor) is forcing for one round. Opener cannot pass, he must bid. Openers options will be described later.
What are the clues that it is NMF? (i) partner has opened (generally with a minor) (ii) responder has bid a suit at the one level (in this case spades) (iii) opener has rebid 1NT showing a balanced 12-14 hcps and responder now bids an unbid minor.
There is one NMF sequence where partner will not have opened a minor – 1h/1s/1NT/2m. As long as the rebid is 1NT, the bid of the minor is still NMF. Since a minor has not yet been bid, it’s your choice. Pick your better minor. While in NMF the bid minor does not necessarily show a suit, in this case you minor implies a stopper since you had a choice between the minors. If there is no major suit fit, bidding the better minor may be helpful information in finding a no trump contract.
Now let’s jump to responder’s side. Responder cannot use NMF unless he has at least 11 hcps since opener has limited his hand to 12-14 by rebidding 1NT. There is no maximum on responder’s NMF bid. In the vast majority of cases responder has 5 cards in his first bid major and wants to find out if opener has 3 card support. Yet, like its first cousin, 4th suit forcing, NMF has great flexibility and in end result is nothing more than a request for opener to further define his hand
In the sequence 1d/1s/1NT where responders bid is one spade, it is possible that responder has a hand like KQxxx, KQxx, Ax, xx. In this specific auction responder is interested in whether opener has a three card spade suit or a 4 card heart suit that opener could not show since responder’s first bid was 1 spade. Let’s now give opener Kxx, Axxx, KQxx, Jx. Does opener show his 4 card heart suit or does he show the 3 card spade suit? There are differences of opinion about the priorities. Ignoring all conflicting opinion, I play that opener’s first priority is to show the unbid 4 card heart suit, and then by rebid show the 3 card spade support if responder indicates no fit for hearts. Note that this issue only arises when responders first bid is 1 spade.
If opener does not have a holding to make a positive major suit response to responder’s NMF bid, then opener shows the hcp range of the hand as a minimum (12-13) by bidding 2NT or a maximum (14 hcps) by bidding 3NT.
If opener does have a major suit fit for responder, the same principle of showing the range of the hand applies. If you have a fit and 12-13 hcps, show the fit on the 2 level (2 hearts or 2 spades), and if you have a maximum of 14 hcps show the fit on the 3 level (3 hearts or 3 spades).
What if the bidding goes 1d/1s/1NT and you hold Kxxx, xx, x, QJTxxx. This hand will not play well in no trump and you really want to play the hand with clubs as trump at the cheapest level. Two clubs would be NMF, so with this hand you bid 3 clubs. This is a clear signal to opener to stop bidding and put his hand on the table.
NMF is also “on” when opener rebids 2NT. So 1c/1s/2NT (18-19)/3d is NMF. If responder has already made a 1 level response, he has enough to use NMF. Partner now bids 3 of a major to show 4 hearts or 3 spades and 3NT to show neither. If responder finds a major fit, he bids 4 of the major and if not passes 3NT.
The important thing about NMF is that when opener has a minimum hand he makes a minimum response at the 2 level (up to and including 2NT) and when he has a maximum he makes a jump response at the 3 level (up to and including 3NT)..
There are a number of optional more sophisticated treatments that can be used in connection with NMF, but this represents all the basics. Don’t forget that the NMF and its responses are alertable.
The bidding goes 1d/1s/1NT/2c. When we play NMF the bid of two clubs, (a new minor) is forcing for one round. Opener cannot pass, he must bid. Openers options will be described later.
What are the clues that it is NMF? (i) partner has opened (generally with a minor) (ii) responder has bid a suit at the one level (in this case spades) (iii) opener has rebid 1NT showing a balanced 12-14 hcps and responder now bids an unbid minor.
There is one NMF sequence where partner will not have opened a minor – 1h/1s/1NT/2m. As long as the rebid is 1NT, the bid of the minor is still NMF. Since a minor has not yet been bid, it’s your choice. Pick your better minor. While in NMF the bid minor does not necessarily show a suit, in this case you minor implies a stopper since you had a choice between the minors. If there is no major suit fit, bidding the better minor may be helpful information in finding a no trump contract.
Now let’s jump to responder’s side. Responder cannot use NMF unless he has at least 11 hcps since opener has limited his hand to 12-14 by rebidding 1NT. There is no maximum on responder’s NMF bid. In the vast majority of cases responder has 5 cards in his first bid major and wants to find out if opener has 3 card support. Yet, like its first cousin, 4th suit forcing, NMF has great flexibility and in end result is nothing more than a request for opener to further define his hand
In the sequence 1d/1s/1NT where responders bid is one spade, it is possible that responder has a hand like KQxxx, KQxx, Ax, xx. In this specific auction responder is interested in whether opener has a three card spade suit or a 4 card heart suit that opener could not show since responder’s first bid was 1 spade. Let’s now give opener Kxx, Axxx, KQxx, Jx. Does opener show his 4 card heart suit or does he show the 3 card spade suit? There are differences of opinion about the priorities. Ignoring all conflicting opinion, I play that opener’s first priority is to show the unbid 4 card heart suit, and then by rebid show the 3 card spade support if responder indicates no fit for hearts. Note that this issue only arises when responders first bid is 1 spade.
If opener does not have a holding to make a positive major suit response to responder’s NMF bid, then opener shows the hcp range of the hand as a minimum (12-13) by bidding 2NT or a maximum (14 hcps) by bidding 3NT.
If opener does have a major suit fit for responder, the same principle of showing the range of the hand applies. If you have a fit and 12-13 hcps, show the fit on the 2 level (2 hearts or 2 spades), and if you have a maximum of 14 hcps show the fit on the 3 level (3 hearts or 3 spades).
What if the bidding goes 1d/1s/1NT and you hold Kxxx, xx, x, QJTxxx. This hand will not play well in no trump and you really want to play the hand with clubs as trump at the cheapest level. Two clubs would be NMF, so with this hand you bid 3 clubs. This is a clear signal to opener to stop bidding and put his hand on the table.
NMF is also “on” when opener rebids 2NT. So 1c/1s/2NT (18-19)/3d is NMF. If responder has already made a 1 level response, he has enough to use NMF. Partner now bids 3 of a major to show 4 hearts or 3 spades and 3NT to show neither. If responder finds a major fit, he bids 4 of the major and if not passes 3NT.
The important thing about NMF is that when opener has a minimum hand he makes a minimum response at the 2 level (up to and including 2NT) and when he has a maximum he makes a jump response at the 3 level (up to and including 3NT)..
There are a number of optional more sophisticated treatments that can be used in connection with NMF, but this represents all the basics. Don’t forget that the NMF and its responses are alertable.
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