[Wentys]

My LHO opened, the bidding went 3H-P-P-X-P-4H ... My double was described as I hoped - a shortage in H, cover in other suits. It seems my robot partner then cue-bid the opponents H suit. The explanation of that 4H bid says "13-20 total points". (This was one of the free daily tournaments, so I think the Robot is GIB - it simply describes itself as "Robot".)

Is this a common convention / use of a cue bid, and does it only apply in this special context of a pre-empt followed by a double? Does the sequence have a name or is there somewhere I can read about it?

Many thanks

Peter

[barmar]

I don't think there's a name for this, it's just a strength-showing cuebid. In general, a cue bid in response to a takeout double has two usual meanings:

1. Game-forcing strength, I'll show my suit with my next bid.
2. Equal length in the majors (when the double is of a minor) and enough strength to go to the next level, asking doubler to bid their better major.

This is probably an instance of #1. Jumping to 4♠ has a pretty wide range, the cue bid shows a good hand.

[Wentys]

barmar, on 2025-December-11, 12:16, said:

I don't think there's a name for this, it's just a strength-showing cuebid. In general, a cue bid in response to a takeout double has two usual meanings:

1. Game-forcing strength, I'll show my suit with my next bid.
2. Equal length in the majors (when the double is of a minor) and enough strength to go to the next level, asking doubler to bid their better major.

This is probably an instance of #1. Jumping to 4♠ has a pretty wide range, the cue bid shows a good hand.

Helpful, thanks barmar. This nails it precisely. Your description "strength-showing cuebid in response to a takeout double" was also enough for Google search to offer some AI explanation similar to yours, and to point to some online videos, references, etc.