[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2026-August-28, 11:45, said:

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Are we cue bidding now?

Late to the thread, don't you guys have to play bridge?

FWIW I dislike the normal agreement that 2♠ should show spades rather than "I have a good suit of my own", but so far I'm in a minority of one and history will tell who was right.

If 2♠ was good spades then of course we're control-bidding now, Italian style for me: 3NT is non-serious (worried about the rest of my hand), 4♦ is a hopefully inconsequential shortage and 4♥ is the Ace you were hoping for.

[mike777]

I would expect not less than 6 spades to the KQ

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-August-28, 14:40, said:

This is the first cue bid we are making and it is above game. Are we only showing Aces?
I think Mikes following comment answers this.

Our first cue is honor based, given that we have all Kings, all Aces, the only cue p
can make is showing the Ace of hearts, we have all the other cards.
If you play that 3NT showes kings, that is great, I dont.

[P_Marlowe]

jillybean, on 2026-August-28, 14:40, said:

This is the first cue bid we are making and it is above game. Are we only showing Aces?
I think Mikes following comment answers this.

Our first cue is honor based (this was / is meant with showing top honors), it cannot be shortage,
given that we have all Kings, all Aces, the only cue p, can make is showing the Ace of hearts,
we have all the other cards.
If you play that 3NT showes kings, that is great, I dont, a top honor based cue, could still
be Ace or King. For us, 3NT would still be serious, which is not useful, the weak hand should
describe, the weak hand should not blast 4NT, given that you are potentially looking for a Grand,
the weak hand wont be able to count 13 tricks.

[Cyberyeti]

jillybean, on 2026-August-28, 13:02, said:

What are your agreements?

3N in a cue bidding situation for us = the most expensive cue so hearts.

[jillybean]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-August-29, 00:15, said:

3N in a cue bidding situation for us = the most expensive cue so hearts.

What is your cue bidding style? A,K,S,V. top honors?

[jillybean]

pescetom, on 2026-August-28, 15:49, said:

Late to the thread, don't you guys have to play bridge?

FWIW I dislike the normal agreement that 2♠ should show spades rather than "I have a good suit of my own", but so far I'm in a minority of one and history will tell who was right.

If 2♠ was good spades then of course we're control-bidding now, Italian style for me: 3NT is non-serious (worried about the rest of my hand), 4♦ is a hopefully inconsequential shortage and 4♥ is the Ace you were hoping for.

I had 30 friends join me for a big celebration last night, food, drink, dancing and yes, I did bring some boards and a game soon formed
I was too busy dancing.

2♠ "I have a good suit of my own" is unusual, why not bid the suit?
"4♥ is the Ace you were hoping for" specifically the Ace? Could it be the King (if it wasn't in our hand) or shortage?

[mike777]

People dance in Canada?

Is that even legal there?

Perhaps slap a tariff on?

[Cyberyeti]

jillybean, on 2026-August-29, 08:23, said:

What is your cue bidding style? A,K,S,V. top honors?

AKSV but high card first time in partner's suit

[jillybean]

mike777, on 2026-August-29, 08:44, said:

People dance in Canada?

Is that even legal there?

Perhaps slap a tariff on?

Canada is not the frozen North, we are a melting pot here. I need to move this to the WC, you wouldn't believe the night we had.

Cyberyeti, on 2026-August-29, 09:28, said:

AKSV but high card first time in partner's suit

In this auction there is no 'partner's suit' so I believe you would get a 3N response.
There are so many different approaches to cue/control bidding.

My apologies, I struggle to keep these auctions going logically , and it's getting a little off track.

[Cyberyeti]

jillybean, on 2026-August-29, 10:27, said:

In this auction there is no 'partner's suit' so I believe you would get a 3N response.
There are so many different approaches to cue/control bidding.

My apologies, I struggle to keep these auctions going logically , and it's getting a little off track.

Blackwood, either partner has 1+Q or 2+Q depending on whether the heart control is a singleton

If 1+Q I bid 6N, if 2+Q I bid 7N

[jillybean]

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tbc

[mikeh]

mike777, on 2026-August-29, 08:44, said:

People dance in Canada?

Is that even legal there?

Perhaps slap a tariff on?

I’m probably over reacting to an attempt at humour, but jokes by an American about tariffs on Canada are NOT even remotely funny. I’ll refrain from expressing my real sentiments because I do assume this was a misguided attempt at being funny. Your President has declared economic war against your country’s most reliable ally and trading partner, a country with which the US has a significant trading surplus excluding the oil and gas we supply to much of the US…and much of the resources we sell are owned by US companies, so even when Canada has a surplus, much of the benefit flows down to the US anyway.

[pescetom]

 jillybean, on 2026-August-29, 08:30, said:

"4♥ is the Ace you were hoping for" specifically the Ace? Could it be the King (if it wasn't in our hand) or shortage?

Specifically the Ace given the context of our hand as exposed in diagram, of course it could be K or shortage otherwise.
Similarly for the minors.

 jillybean, on 2026-August-29, 08:30, said:

2♠ "I have a good suit of my own" is unusual, why not bid the suit?

Extremely unusual, I invented it after scratching my head a bit, never heard of anyone else playing it... yet.
I call it "black flag", the companion of 2H "red flag".
Reverse your question: why bid the suit naturally, when partner has a big hand and quite possibly an agenda of his own?
I have seen some experts bidding Responder's suit in transfer, but that still preempts Opener to some extent and also consumes four valuable bids.
If instead all "good suits" bid the black flag, nice things can happen.
Opener with a single suiter that only needs controls can simply bid his suit and impose trumps.
More likely, he will bid the 2NT enquiry over which Responder bids his suit in transfer.
Now Opener can accept the transfer (fixing trumps), or bid his own suit which imposes trumps, or bid NT.
All trump contracts except clubs will start control-bidding from the 3 level and all contracts except spades will be right sided to the strong hand.
Responder's bids above 2♠ are all free for showing two suiters or whatever.
I play that 2NT is symmetric minors, 3♣ is asymmetric majors (3♦ asks) and 3♦ is symmetric majors. Low memory load and obvious developments.