[harikannan]

Say we play 3C response to michaels cue bid of major suit opening as weak hand, pass or correct and 2NT as sort of invitational plus (with due regard to vulnerability). Suppose we bid 2NT first and bid 3 of our major after partner shows his minor, what would it mean? For example, would it mean looking for a minor suit game, if partner bids our minor, or, 2-card support for partner's major (like Jx) and suggestion to bid major suit game?

Thanks.

[DavidKok]

A bid for every hand, not a hand for every bid. Which hands can partner not show directly, have enough strength to commit to the 3-level, and don't have a different followup bid after 2NT?

[harikannan]

I thought (1H) 2H (P) 2NT (P) 3C (P) 3S would be with a hand like Jx, xxxx, AKxxx, Ax trying to decide between 5D if partner bids diamonds, or offering 4S.

[mw64ahw]

Similar responses to a Muiderberg Weak 2, but with 2N and responses defined relative to Michaels strength?

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

If 2NT is the stronger relay, than the response should give an indication, about the strength.
The 3C is the lowest way of showing the undisclosed suit, hence it should also show a min.

If the 2NT bidder now bids 3S, this basically says, well lets play 3S. The min response said stop,
and similar p may have the wrong minor.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[harikannan]

I asked this because recently it came up with my partner holding: KQTxx, x, xx, KJT8x. Of course, i did not bid in the way i framed the question.

[P_Marlowe]

The first question, which Michaels style do you play?

The old style, the cue is made either on weak hands or strong hand, excluding the middle,
or do you play the new style, which employs continuious range, i.e. middle is not excluded.

If you play the new style, the upside is higher freq., the downside is, you loose precision,
and both side have to guess a bit. And given the lack of space, you cant avoid this guesswork.

[harikannan]

We play the new version -- not mini max. Both sides were non-vul at IMPS and the actual hand held by partner is about minimum, unless we are in favorable vulnerability or 6-5 shape. I was wondering if there would be a way to tell partner to bid 4S if his spades were good or he held 6-5 in either suits with minimum strength.

[P_Marlowe]

harikannan, on 2025-May-06, 10:43, said:

We play the new version -- not mini max. Both sides were non-vul at IMPS and the actual hand held by partner is about minimum, unless we are in favorable vulnerability or 6-5 shape. I was wondering if there would be a way to tell partner to bid 4S if his spades were good or he held 6-5 in either suits with minimum strength.

For me / us, being green, the only red light being 2nd pos., I would say the hand is more than a min, but we play the Michaels starting
with 5/4 shape, and I would make it without either king at the given vul.
My take would also be, that 6-5 is more than min, if p invites 6-5, should be a big plus to accept.

But in the end the is the price you pay, playing the new method, you loose precision.

And knowing, what is min for the partnership influences the hand that invite / need to guess to blast.

You could use the 2NT bid as inv. only for the known major suit, most of the time, you are not interested in the minor suit
game contract. I am not sure, if someone is playing this way, we do as part of our NT overcall structure, but not after the
Michaels, because: with spades we would usually not use the Michaels, but over call 1S, at least when holding mid range hands,
so Michaels usually does not come up.