Hand of the week - 5th July 2026

3rd July Board 4

There are a couple of bidding options here covering a couple of laws/conventions. We will discuss both.

W opens 1C. N has a decision to make. He/she can bid 2C (Michael’s Cue bid). This bid shows 5/5 in both majors. This bid makes it difficult for E to bid as they must bid at 2 level or 3 level if they are going to support partner’s clubs. S holding 5 S, 4 H  and a void in opps bid suit can revalue his hand, 12hcp and 5 for void, effectively 17. Does not want E/W to find a fit in minors so bids 4S.

The other option for N is bid 1S. E can support W by bidding 2C. S now has a law they can fall back on called Total Trumps. The N bid showing 5 S and about 8 hcp. S can use this rule and it goes like this, add the number of the cards in partner’s bid suit to your cards, in this  case 5 + 5 = 10 deduct 6 which is 4 so S should bid 4S.

If N bid H first then 5 + 4 = 9 then S should bid 3H, it is then up to N to make decision to go to 4H.