November 2011 - 56

Mike's Advice
going to be happy there. Consider this
hand instead:
K J 9 A 8 7 6 4 10 7 6 5 3.

Mike Lawrence
www.michaelslawrence.com

Responding to a
Michaels cuebid:
RHO intervenes (continued)
Say your partner bids Michaels over
a minor-suit opening, and right-hand
opponent bids a minor (either a raise
of opener's suit or a bid in the other
minor). If it is a raise, you can take
a lot of liberties in bidding because
RHO's bid is not particularly strong.
LHO
1

Partner RHO
2
3

You
?

The emphasis is on bidding something if you can. You do not have to
worry a lot about RHO, although you
do need to worry a little about opener's hand.
Basically, if you feel like bidding,
you should. You can compete with
most hands, having a four-card major
and some of the hands with a threecard major.
J 9 8 A 6 Q 9 6 2 Q 9 8 7
Pass. You have 9 points, but the two
queens are of little value. I said that
you would like to bid with some of
your three-card trump holdings, but
you do need to be circumspect. Note
that your four clubs may turn out to
be a bother for declarer. RHO raised
clubs, but that does not mean he is
56 Bridge Bulletin November 2011

Bid 3. This hand has fewer points
than the hand above, but it has much
better spades.
Remember that if you pass, your
partner may get another chance. This
sequence is one where your partner
may have a good or very good hand
and he often will still be there for you
if you pass.
J 9 3 K 8 K J 6 4 2 6 5 3
You can bid 3 with this. Your
major-suit values are working, and
your diamonds may have some value.
It is okay to get involved with this.
J 9 8 3 Q 6 Q 9 2 Q 9 8 7
This hand has four trumps. When
you have four trumps, you do not
need much of an excuse to bid, so try
3. Your fourth spade adds greatly to
how well your hands will mesh, and
your fourth spade detracts from your
combined defensive assets.
J 9 8 3 A 6 K J 8 8 6 5 4
This hand is excellent. It has four
spades, an important heart honor,
and it gives you hope that if partner
is short in clubs he will have longer
diamonds, making your K J useful.
Bid 4 with this.
Here is a layout that you may encounter:
You
J983
A6
KJ8
8654

Partner
 Q 10 7 6 4
K9842
A7
J

Your partner has a minimum

Michaels hand, but you have a fair
play for game. If you bid just 3 with
this hand, your partner will pass and
game will be missed. Yes, he might
have even less, but you should be able
to play him for something. In the first
article, I discussed what the Michaels
bidder ought to have. I suggested a
good 8 HCP as a minimum. If you
have this agreement, it allows your
partner to make good decisions. If
you are likely to bid Michaels with the
following hand, the partnership will
flounder whenever partner starts to
get excited:
Q 8 7 5 4 10 9 8 7 5 Q K 4.
This is not worth a Michaels cuebid,
in my opinion. What is clear is that
you and your partner have to define
your ranges so that responder has a
chance to make good decisions.
Now let's look at this sequence:
LHO
1

Partner RHO
2
3

You
?

If RHO bids a new minor over
Michaels, and you are thinking of
bidding, you probably should find out
what it means. Some play it as a weak
noise. Some play it as encouraging.
The problem with asking is that they
may not know the answer, but after
you ask questions, they will find out
what that answer is courtesy of you
allowing opener to tell responder
what responder is expected to have.
Awkward.
In any event, I suspect the new
minor will be weakish at the two level
and will show some values at the
three level.
Act accordingly. Remember that if
you have room to bid at the two level,
http://www.michaelslawrence.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2011
