Michaels cuebids

[MattieShoe]

So I've found 50 berjillion pages describing Michaels cuebids but very little concrete on appropriate responses (other than NT asking for minor). Also I'm not sure how Michaels interacts with other conventions like splinters... I don't get to use them often enough to have a good feel for how the bidding should go.

 

1♣ 2♣ P ?

 

3NT

2♦/3♦/4♦

 

3♣

4♣

 

3♥/♠

4♥/♠

What do these indicate to you?

 

Also for michaels over a major, does anything change?

1♥ 2♥ P ?

 

3♣/3♦

4♣/4♦

 

3♥

 

3♠

4♠

...?

[Codo]

Don't care about this stuff too much.

 

In 95 out of 100 cases, your partner has a weak hand, and you simply place your contract. You very seldom have a slam going hand on your own, so there is no need to define allthese bids.

 

For the beginning:

The fourth suit is natural

Their suit is forcing, asking for 3 NT or for the better suit.

Partners suits and NT are natural and to play opposite the weak michaels bid.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

 

I strongly agree with Codo, this is not a topic to worry, espesially if you

play with random partners, many of them being B/I.

And I would even doubt that using a Michales Cue undiscussed with a

random partner (B/I level) is bound to lead to a disaster.

 

And this is certainly not a B/I topic.

 

But to answer your questions and to add some points, your pagess may not

have spelled out

 

#1 Some play 2C over a 1C opening as natural, they use 2D after a 1C as the

Michales Cue, espesially if the 1C could be based on 2 cards.

#2 Some play, that the Michaels Cue showes a two suiter with the unbid majors,

i.e. after a minor suit opening the Cue showes both Majors, other play that

the Michaels Cue only showes the highest unbid major.

#3 Jump Raises of a known suit are preemptive.

Jump Raises in a suit the cue bidder may or may not hold show support for

the unknown suit, and are also preemptive.

#4 2NT is basically a heavy relais, showing at least inv. strength, asking the

Michaels Cue Bidder to describe his hand further, e.g. showing the unknown

suit, showing min / max.

#5 3NT is usually to play.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[pooltuna]

Don't care about this stuff too much.

 

In 95 out of 100 cases, your partner has a weak hand, and you simply place your contract. You very seldom have a slam going hand on your own, so there is no need to define allthese bids.

 

For the beginning:

The fourth suit is natural

Their suit is forcing, asking for 3 NT or for the better suit.

Partners suits and NT are natural and to play opposite the weak michaels bid.

For partner's suits I seem to recall jumps were invitational within the context of the weak qbid.

[MattieShoe]

Well I guess the real problem I'm having is how bidding proceeds when somebody plays michaels with any strength hand instead of strong/weak only.

 

Say partner uses 1♣ 2♣ and you've 12-13 points and a fit in a major.

With strong/weak michaels, you can count on partner to raise/pass depending on whether he's strong or weak. But what happens if he plays michaels in all situations and he has, say, 13 points? How does the partnership find game? So I've been wondering how that could be shown without overbidding when partner has a weak hand.

[P_Marlowe]

Well I guess the real problem I'm having is how bidding proceeds when somebody plays michaels with any strength hand instead of strong/weak only.

 

Say partner uses 1♣ 2♣ and you've 12-13 points and a fit in a major.

With strong/weak michaels, you can count on partner to raise/pass depending on whether he's strong or weak.  But what happens if he plays michaels in all situations and he has, say, 13 points? How does the partnership find game?  So I've been wondering how that could be shown without overbidding when partner has a weak hand.

Michaels Cue - continious range is a A/E topic.

...............................................................................................

That is the price you pay.

 

If you decide to play continious strength you sacrifice precision

for frequence, and this means, in certain situation you have to

guess.

 

Continious strength will allow you to compete more often, and to

find your fit fast, but it will also lead to some situation, where you

have to guess the level.

If you play continuos you need mechanics to invite, and as I have

mentioned the invites go via 2NT, if opener accepts the invite, but

is unsure about the suit, he can bid the opponents suit a 2nd time.

You can add. additional balast, but space is limited and you wont

avoid to have to guess sometimes, a thing you though was ok, as

you decided to play the cue as continious ranges.

 

With kind regards

Marlowe

[jjbrr]

Learn to use good judgment in auctions where partner shows distributional hands. Put a premium on a very good fit (9+cards combined), honors in partner's other suit, no wastage in opponent's suit or partner's advertised short suit, and aces and kings.

 

In auctions where partner says "I have a source of tricks outside of trumps," counting HCP is not a good way of determining the value of your hand. You don't get a game bonus for having 26 HCP combined; you get a bonus for bidding 4M and taking 10 tricks. When the hands are distributional, it's better to be able to judge how the hands fit together rather than how strong the hands are separately.

 

Many Michaels auctions are guesses, because, as you point out, the range of hands partner can have is very, very wide. Be aggressive when you have 9 or more trumps between the two hands and useful distribution yourself.

 

Don't let conventions and agreements become a crutch. I've never talked for more than 5 minutes with any of my regular partners about Michaels auctions.

[MattieShoe]

Okay, thanks for the help :-)

[jjbrr]

Also, it's worth pointing out that even if you have a weak-ish hand with a good fit for partner and useful distribution, while you should be bidding game to make, even if partner is at the lower end of his bid and game has no prayer you often preempt the opponents out of their making contract.

 

Ya, you feel bad when you freely bid game and partner's hand just isn't what you wanted and you go down a trick or two. You feel like you've turned a sure plus into a minus. But in the long run this evens out with all the times you make game or keep the opponents from their more lucrative making contract. And sometimes the opponents bid over you when neither of you are making anything.

 

I guess in summary: stay low with 8 trumps unless you have a hand rich with aces and kings or otherwise a lot of winners. with 9 trumps and a balanced hand, determine how much wastage you might have and stay low if you think your honors are poorly placed. with 9+ trumps and some distribution, be aggressive. those little trump cards are just as good as kings and queens if you can use them to ruff the second or third round of a suit.