Unassuming cue bid

Question

What is the correct bidding auction – we got ourselves into a mess! Our auction was 1D 1H 1S 2C 2NT 4NT 5D 5S 5NT PASS

Bernard's Answer

West wants to agree spades and show a strong hand – rather like one of the hands this morning, her best bet is to use FSF and then support: So your auction started beautifully, but West forgot about spades: 1D – 1H – 1S – 2C* – 2NT – 3S When West rebids 3S over 2NT he is showing a strong hand with spade support, otherwise why did he bother bidding FSF? Now it is up to East – he might sign off in 4S, but if he finds a 4C cuebid, then that will propel West onwards, with 4NT Blackwood and they reach 6S. 1D – 1H – 1S – 2C* – 2NT – 3S – 4C – 4NT – 5H – 6S.