Because 2-suited overcalls are effective, your opponents will use Michaels Cue Bids and Unusual 2NT overcalls to interfere in your auctions. Without agreements to defend against 2-suited overcalls, your partnership will be forced to guess.
On the auction below, West's jump 2NT overcall in an Unusual 2NT bid showing 5-5 or longer in the minors. What type of hand does North's 3♠ bid show? a hand like
- ♠A872 ♥96 ♦K53 ♣A985 (12 Support Points) or
- ♠A872 ♥96 ♦K53 ♣J852 (9 Support Points)
| South | West | North | East |
| 1♠ | 2NT | 3♠ |
If North held a 16 Support Point hand like ♠A872 ♥AK82 ♦93 ♣A52, should North jump to 4♠? That wouldn't leave much room for South to look for slam. South would need to choose between bidding 4NT (Roman Key Card Blackwood for spades), or making a slam try with a Control Bid. It would be nice for North to have a way to show an invitational or better spade raise which would leave South room to make a Control Bid and then use Roman Key Card Blackwood.
The Unusual Versus Unusual Defense to a 2-Suited Overcall
The good news is that a 2-suited overcall gives responder the opportunity to use cue bids (bids of the suits shown by the overcaller) to describe their hand.
| South | West | North | East |
| 1♠ | 2NT | ? |
On the above auction, West's jump 2NT overcall is an Unusual 2NT bid showing 5-5 or longer in the minors. North wouldn't want to bid clubs or diamonds naturally. It is best to use cue bids of the suits shown by the overcaller to show an invitational or better raise for opener's suit and a hand with invitational or better values and length in the 4th suit (hearts on this auction). Which cue bid shows which hand requires partnership agreement. Some partnerships play the lower cue bid shows the raise. Some play the higher cue bid shows the raise. Others use the lower cue bid to show the lower suit and the higher cue bid to show the higher suit. All of these agreements are viable. The key is for your partnership to have a firm agreement. For examples in this article, we use the lower cue bid as the invitational or better raise, and the higher cue bid to show an invitational or better hand with length in the 4th suit.
With that understanding, here is a summary of North's responses after West's Unusual 2NT overcall:
| Bid | Meaning |
| Double | Has a penalty double of clubs and/or diamonds. Subsequent doubles are for penalty. |
| 3♣ | Invitational of better raise for opener's spade suit (e.g. ♠A872 ♥96 ♦K53 ♣A985 or better) |
| 3♦ | Invitational or better hand with length in the 4th suit (hearts) (e.g. ♠A8 ♥KQ742 ♦53 ♣Q985 or better) |
| 3♥ | Natural, less than invitational, like a Weak 2♥ bid (e.g. ♠72 ♥KQT964 ♦Q53 ♣85) |
| 3♠ | Less than invitational spade raise (e.g. ♠A872 ♥Q6 ♦K53 ♣9852) |
| 3NT | Natural offer to play |
| Jump Shift | Splinter Bid in support of spades (4+ spades, 13+ points, singleton or void in the suit bid) |
A Michaels Cue Bid is another type of 2-Suited overcall which you will face. You can use the same approach when the Michaels Cue Bid specifies both of the overcaller's suits. In the auction below, West's 2♦ Michaels Cue Bid shows 5+ spades and 5+ hearts. North wouldn't want to bid hearts or spades naturally. Those cue bids can be used to show an invitational or better raise for South's diamonds, and an invitational or better hand with length in the 4th suit, clubs on this auction. The meanings of the cue bids needs to be discussed with your partner.
| South | West | North | East |
| 1♦ | 2♦ | ? |
With the agreement the lower cue bid is used to show an invitational or better raise for opener's suit, North can cue bid 2♥, the lower of the suits shown by West, to show an invitational or better diamond raise (e.g. ♠A72 ♥96 ♦KQ53 ♣Q985).. A 2♠ cue bid shows an invitational or better hand with length in the suit which has not been shown, clubs on this auction (e.g. ♠A872 ♥96 ♦K53 ♣AQ985). Because invitational or better hands would cue bid to show their strength, a raise to 3♦ would show a less than invitational hand with support for South's diamonds (e.g. ♠9762 ♥J6 ♦KQ53 ♣K852). Bidding the 4th suits, clubs, would show a less than invitational hand with long clubs, similar to a Weak 2 bid (e.g. ♠72 ♥65 ♦Q53 ♣AQ9852). A 2NT response would an invitational hand with stoppers. 3NT shows a game forcing hand with stoppers. If North wishes to penalize hearts and/or spades, North would double West's 2♦ Michaels Cue Bid. Subsequent doubles would be for penalty. Jump shifts are splinter bids showing support for opener's suit, a singleton or void in the suit bid, and slam interest.
Here is a summary of responder's options after West's 2♦ Michaels Cue Bid:
| Bid | Meaning |
| Double | Has a penalty double of hearts and/or spades |
| 2♥ | Invitational of better raise for opener's diamond suit |
| 2♠ | Invitational or better hand with club length |
| 2NT | Natural and invitational with stoppers |
| 3♣ | Less than invitational hand with long clubs, like a Weak 2 but with clubs |
| 3♦ | Less than invitational hand with diamond support |
| 3♥ | Heart stopper, looking for 3NT |
| 3♠ | Spade stopper, looking for 3NT |
| 3NT | Natural offer to play, both majors stopped |
A Michaels Cue Bid of a major suit opening, showing 5+ cards in the other major and 5+ cards in an unspecified minor, is more difficult to defend against because only one of the overcaller's suits is known. So only one cue bid available. It is best to use the cue bid of the overcaller's major to show an invitational or better raise for opener's major. Raising opener's major would show a less than invitational hand with support for opener's major. The difficulty is the meaning of responder's bid of 3♣ or 3♦.
| South | West | North | East |
| 1♥ | 2♥ | ? |
Would a 3♣ or 3♦ bid by North be competitive or would it show an invitational or better hand with a long minor? For more on this topic, see our "Transfers over Michaels" article.
