Wednesday, October 08, 2003 1:16 AM

Italian Q Bids II

PITBULLS:

Italian Cuebids

This is a style of cue bidding where you cue bid first- or second-round controls (aces, kings, voids, singletons) indiscriminately. Combined with Blackwood or Keycard Blackwood, it makes an effective slam investigatory method.

One of the advantages of this method is that you can locate a suit where the partnership is off the first two tricks, and stop on a dime in game.

For example:

♠ AQxx ♠ KJTxxx

♥ Jxx ♥ T9x

♦ KJx ♦ AQx

♣ AQx ♣ Kx

1NT 2♥ (transfer)

3♠ 4♣

4♦ 4♠

pass

Responder transfers to spades; opener shows four trumps. Responder cuebids 4♣; opener cuebids 4♦, and responder bids 4♠, denying a heart control. The partnership stops just in time. American Q bidding to the 5 level would be a disaster.

♠ KQxx ♠ AJxxx

♥ KQ ♥ xx

♦ xx ♦ Axx

♣ AQxxx ♣ KJx

1♣ 1♠

3♠ 4♣

4♥ 4NT

5♠ 6♠

Responder learns about the heart control at the four level and can bid Keycard Blackwood, locating two keycards and the trump queen, just enough for slam.

One of the important points about Italian cuebids is that when partner skips a suit, denying a control in that suit, you must sign off immediately if you don't have a control either. Let's look at the opening preview hand:

You pick up:

♠ JTxx

♥ AKQx

♦ xx

♣ JTx

Partner opens 1♠. You make a limit raise of 3♠. Partner bids 4♦. What is your call?

Partner's 4♦ bid has denied a club control, so you must bid 4♠. A bid of 4H would promise that you hold a club control (indeed, whether it says you hold a heart control is a problem for a high-level partnership discussion!). Last Train bids says that 4H does not show a heart control but a club control. Do not forget that 4♦ denies both the Ace & King of clubs.

Partner held:

♠ AKQxxx

♥ x

♦ AKQ

♣ xxx

It would be great to stop in 4♠ wouldn't it?

You  hold K109xxx KQxxx x x and partner opens 1NT 15-17 . You transfer to spades and partner bids 2NT which shows a maximum with 3♠. You bid 3♥ as a re-transfer and partner bids 3♠. You Q bid 4♣ and partner bids 4♥. You have snow struck gold. Partner has bypassed both the Ace & King of diamonds so you bid Blackwood and +1430 results. AQx AJx xxxx AQx .