[the hog]

3NT Serious, and sign off over 4D.

[pirate22]

1 sp---3 sp is LTC....so 3 sp states to pard i have 4 card support in spades but i have an 8 loser hand----------- the duties now for opener is as follows as i see it, yes if i bid 4 spades end of auction,but i have a void in D perhaps,there may be slam on,afterall my spades are weak,so 4cl now is not ace showing,but a suit,i also agree bidding 4n/t with a void is of no help,pard if now bids 4 d --im still worried about my spade holding so i sign off in 4 spades.after all responder has still 8 losers,but if 4hts is bid and not 4 d im now interested in slam pard, has good spades, another point is if over my 4cl pard now bids 4n/t (ACE ask) then slam is on in spades.

[CSGibson]

jjbrr, on Mar 11 2010, 09:43 AM, said:

mcphee, on Mar 11 2010, 08:06 AM, said:

A difficult spot for sure as we need a few specific cards. However slam could be rolling in with very little, like the AC and KH even facing 4 small trump. I would try 3N and see if dear partner can advance with 4C which would be pleasing to hear.

I admit I don't like this approach. Might partner be cuebidding a stiff ♣? ...

I suppose it's possible that partner had a LR where part of the values included shortness, so that he didn't feel like splintering, but it's still got to be a low percentage that partner, undervalued, will cooperate with a cue-bid of shortness.

Not saying that 3N is the best bid, just saying that I don't think it would be the worst, either.

[helene_t]

Serious 3NT does not apply here as responder's hand is limited. If you are not serious you just sign off.

I suppose you could distinguish between hands that demand a cuebid and hands that only want responder to cooperate if the hands fit well. But that would require more specific slam tries than just cuebids. What is responder supposed to do over a non-serious cuebid that could be either shortness or A or K?