[jillybean]

We seemed to have all the cards tonight.

---

old jacoby, 3♦ shortage
Ok now to cue ♦ showing Ace?

[apollo1201]

We cannot take control, partner can have AJxxx xxx x AKxx.

So 4D now and see if partner can bid 4H, or even a direct Blackwood, or retreats to 4S which I ll leave in.

[jillybean]

This is exactly the mistake I made, forgetting that the "rule" "don't cue in partners shortage" does not apply in a slam going auction when you hold the Ace.
Fortunately, pard had my back. OT stopped in 6

---

[paulg]

jillybean, on 2026-May-14, 06:16, said:

This is exactly the mistake I made, forgetting that the "rule" "don't cue in partners shortage" does not apply in a slam going auction when you hold the Ace.
Fortunately, pard had my back. OT stopped in 6

I thought the rule was don't cue bid shortage in partner's suit?

Cueing in partner's shortage can be very helpful as long as you don't do it with the king. It either assures partner of no losers or highlights a discard opportunity.

In this case, you'd also love to hear a heart cue bid providing another reason to cue the ♦A.

[jillybean]

paulg, on 2026-May-14, 06:48, said:

I thought the rule was don't cue bid shortage in partner's suit?

Cueing in partner's shortage can be very helpful as long as you don't do it with the king. It either assures partner of no losers or highlights a discard opportunity.

In this case, you'd also love to hear a heart cue bid providing another reason to cue the ♦A.

That's definitely the rule it's 5am , the other one is only cue in partners shortage if you have the Ace, we are not cuing K, stiff or void.
Well, maybe the void become useful if partners shortage is a stiff, but at this stage we don't know that. ?

[DavidKok]

jillybean, on 2026-May-14, 06:16, said:

This is exactly the mistake I made, forgetting that the "rule" "don't cue in partners shortage" does not apply in a slam going auction when you hold the Ace.
Fortunately, pard had my back. OT stopped in 6

---

This is a really poor auction, I can't state it any other way.

• On bidding 4NT, how did South know about the combined trick-taking potential of the hands? You hold a strong but anemic balanced hand, where's the tricks?
  
• How did North know that the jump to 6♠ was not based on 4 keycards? It is crazy to raise yourself again.

You had a nice start by setting trumps and committing to game by the 2NT level, but I'm afraid after that it went downhill very rapidly.

[jillybean]

DavidKok, on 2026-May-14, 11:21, said:

This is a really poor auction, I can't state it any other way.

• On bidding 4NT, how did South know about the combined trick-taking potential of the hands? You hold a strong but anemic balanced hand, where's the tricks?
  
• How did North know that the jump to 6♠ was not based on 4 keycards? It is crazy to raise yourself again.

You had a nice start by setting trumps and committing to game by the 2NT level, but I'm afraid after that it went downhill very rapidly.

Yes, I agree. I said I got stuck after 4♣ and reverted to the only way I thought I could forward, my bid was 4♦.
North is holding 3 keycards, I'm don't understand your comment? He knows I can signoff in 5, yes somewhat lucky but I think well judged given the sequence. Partner has bid strongly, it should be 3, and I have the other 2+q, he has extras.

[DavidKok]

How did North know that South had two key cards after the jump to 6♠, and not one? If the 6♠ was out of tempo this would even be a case for potential UI abuse.

[jillybean]

DavidKok, on 2026-May-14, 11:34, said:

How did North know that South had two key cards after the jump to 6♠, and not one? If the 6♠ was out of tempo this would even be a case for potential UI abuse.

Yes, that is true, I may not have ♦A.
My tempo was fine, when the bidding is at this level you expect some pause for thought.

[mike777]

 jillybean, on 2026-May-13, 23:18, said:

We seemed to have all the cards tonight.

---

old jacoby, 3♦ shortage
Ok now to cue ♦ showing Ace?

Yes 4D
This South hand not that special
You will need North to be more than minimum
Will relinquish captaincy.

Will pass 4S, will rebid 4s over 4H

[pescetom]

 paulg, on 2026-May-14, 06:48, said:

I thought the rule was don't cue bid shortage in partner's suit?

Cueing in partner's shortage can be very helpful as long as you don't do it with the king. It either assures partner of no losers or highlights a discard opportunity.

In this case, you'd also love to hear a heart cue bid providing another reason to cue the ♦A.

If your agreement is to show either first or second level control (Italian style) then I recommend abandoning "rules" deriving from more primitive methods and just telling the truth.
Telling lies tends to rebound against you later on, especially if partner has a good idea of your HCP strength and is trying to map it to specific honours.
With an awkward truth Partner will usually be able to work out what is going on before it is too late, whether you are short in his long suit or hold A in his short suit. For us only the K in his explicitly declared short suit is a candidate to be skipped, and even then it should be a judgement decision IMO: with KQ you will usually want to show and sometimes even just the K.