What Lia is
Lia is a bidding robot who partners you in a practice session. She is not a random opponent generator: she bids a named system, declares what her artificial calls mean, and does the same thing tomorrow. Lia is built by IntoBridge and plugged into Cuebids.
That consistency is what makes her useful. Practicing a convention with a human partner who is also learning it teaches you both something, slowly. Practicing it with a partner who always plays it correctly tells you quickly whether you have it right.
Systems she plays
You pick the system before the session starts, and it becomes your default for the next one. 2 over 1 is where a new account starts. The list spans the common national standards, two expert systems, and whatever you have built yourself.
2 over 1
DefaultBergen, semi-forcing 1NT. Where a new account starts.
Advanced 2 over 1
2/1 with expert standard.
Standard American
SAYC, five-card majors.
Acol
Four-card majors, Jacoby 2NT.
French standard
Roudi, 2♦ game force, Ghestem.
Swedish expert
Multi, Stenberg, Gazzilli, XY-notrump. The full set.
Basic Swedish
Splinter, Stenberg. The easier version.
Gavin’s master series light
Gavin Wolpert’s expert system, trimmed to the essentials.
Gavin’s master series full
The same system with the whole treatment set.
Your own system
A convention card you built. It joins the list once one exists.
Building your own
If none of the standards is what you and your partner have agreed, you can write the card yourself. The link sits next to the system dropdown, and once a card exists it joins the list as Your own system.
Reading her convention card
Every system has a convention card you can open before or during a session. It is worth reading once before your first auction, because it is the answer to most of the arguments you are about to have with her: if Lia bid something you did not expect, the card says what she meant by it.
What her alerts tell you
Lia explains her artificial and conventional calls as she makes them. The explanation names the convention, the point range, and the shape she is showing, which makes a session closer to a lesson: you see the meaning at the moment the bid appears rather than working it out afterwards.
- What the bid means in the system you picked.
- The point range it promises.
- The shape it shows, or rules out.
- How the sequence fits together — why this bid rather than the obvious one.
Starting a session with her
- Open Practice and choose Lia as partner
She is one of the partner options, alongside your friends.
- Pick the system
Choose from the dropdown before the session starts. Read the convention card if the system is new to you.
- Choose whether the opponents are robots
Advanced robots East–West give you competitive auctions, and cost a ticket per board. Leaving them out keeps the auction uncontested.
- Bid
Lia answers at the pace you set during setup: immediately, or with a moment’s delay so the auction feels less like a machine.
What she costs
Lia costs one ticket per board, and advanced robots as opponents cost another. Your first sessions with her are free: until you have ten sessions behind you, or five with her — whichever comes first — she does not charge at all.
In the Daily and Weekly events she needs a Diamond subscription. In practice she does not.
Getting the most out of her
She is a rehearsal partner, and rehearsal rewards a bit of structure. What separates a useful session from an idle one is mostly deciding beforehand what you are practicing.
- Read the convention card before your first session in a new system, rather than working it out from her bids.
- Master one system before switching to another. Two half-known systems are worse than one known one.
- Short sessions often beat rare long ones; the point is the repetition.
- Read the alerts as they appear. That is the lesson, and it is easy to click past.
- Look back over the auctions afterwards, not just the star count.
- Experiment freely. No partner is judging the bid you were not sure about.
What she is good for
- Rehearsing an unfamiliar system safely, before you take it to a club.
- Learning a convention gradually, in the sequences it actually comes up in.
- Comparing how two systems handle the same hand.
- Testing an agreement with your partner before an event.
- Bidding at all, at two in the morning, with nobody to schedule.
What she is not
She is not a substitute for judgment against real opponents. Lia bids the card exactly, every time, and humans do not: the hesitation, the slightly-off range, and the bid somebody makes because they misremembered the agreement are all missing.
That is precisely why she is good for rehearsing agreements — and why a session with her is not evidence that an agreement is a good one.
When something does not work
I cannot find Lia as a partner
- In practice, she is in the partner dropdown alongside your friends.
- In the Daily and Weekly events, she needs a Diamond subscription.
- Your own system only appears in the list once you have built a card.
Her bidding seems wrong
- Check which system is selected. It carries over from your last session, so it may not be the one you think.
- Read the convention card. It is the agreement, and she follows it.
- Consider the vulnerability. Her bidding changes with it, as yours should.
- If it still looks like a genuine error, tell us — say which system and give the auction.
Common questions
Is Lia my partner or my opponent?
Your partner. She sits in partner’s seat. The robots that can sit East and West are a separate setting, and those are your opponents.
Which system should I choose?
The one you and your partner play. Practicing your own methods is what makes the session transfer to the table.
Can I use my own convention card?
Yes. Alongside the named systems you can build a card of your own for Lia to bid.
Does practicing with Lia cost tickets?
One per board, and another per board if you add advanced robots as opponents. Your first sessions with her are free.
Can Lia play in events?
In the Daily and Weekly events, that needs a Diamond subscription.
How many systems can she play?
Nine named systems, from 2 over 1 through to Gavin Wolpert's master series, plus any convention card you build yourself.
Where do I build my own convention card?
From the link beside the system dropdown, or from the convention picker in the app. Once a card exists it joins the system list.
Where to go next
Next guide
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