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BLAKWOOD.SBA
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1995-09-11
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BLACKWOOD
When no suit has been shown by either partner, (as with an opening
bid of 4NT), standard Blackwood is used (5C no aces, 5D one, etc.),
and a "new suit" bid by the Blackwood bidder is a sign-off:
Opener Responder
4NT 5C
5H - sign-off
A 5NT continuation by the Blackwood bidder asks for kings (6C none,
6D two, etc.).
Note that an opening bid of 4NT is Blackwood, not a natural bid.
To bid 4NT naturally, open 2C and then bid 4NT. See THE TWO CLUB
OPENING. Also see DOPI AND DEPO for appropriate action when LHO
overcalls a Blackwood bid.
Roman Key Card Blackwood
Roman Key Card Blackwood (RKCB) is an improvement on plain
Blackwood. When a suit is agreed, either directly or by implica-
tion, the king of trumps is counted as an ace when responding to
4NT--it is a "key card." The responses to 4NT are:
5C - 1 or 4 key cards
5D - 0 or 3 key cards (note reversal of usual practice)
5H - 2 or 5 key cards, no queen of trumps
5S - 2 or 5 key cards, with trump queen
5NT - 2 key cards plus an important king
(i.e., king of partnerhip's second suit)
but lacking the trump queen
6 of agreed suit - useful void above key suit
(and normal response is five of agreed suit)
6 of lower suit - useful void in suit named
(and normal response is five of agreed suit)
Holding more cards in trump length than partner could assume, you
can usually bid as if you have the queen. Whether you need one
extra card or two depends upon the auction. If you know partner has
at least five cards in the suit, for instance, then Jxxxx is just
about as good as Qxxx if you have promised only four cards in the
suit. Partner, going for seven with AKxxx or for six with Kxxxx,
won't be too disappointed with either holding.
With a useful void and a normal response that is not five of the
agreed suit, make the normal response and then cue bid the void
later or keep on bidding when partner shows signs of stopping. If
the normal response would cause you to bid five of the agreed suit,
and the useful void is lower in rank, bid six of the void suit. If
it is higher in rank, jump to six of the agreed suit. Partner will
understand how many key cards you have, knowing that your normal
response would have been in the agreed suit.
If in doubt as to what the "agreed" suit is, the rule is that the
last suit raised is the agreed suit, otherwise the last suit bid.
Opener Responder
1D 2H
3D 3H
4NT - RKCB, hearts "agreed"
Looking only at the suits bid by opener and responder on the first
and second round, hearts is the last suit bid, so the agreed suit
is hearts for purposes of (RKCB).
However, a secondary suit bid (usually a cue bid) on the third
round doesn't count, even if it has been raised:
Opener Responder
1H 1S
3H 3S
4C 4NT - RKCB, spades "agreed"
Opener Responder
1C 2D
3C 3D
3S 4S
4NT - RKCB, diamonds "agreed"
With RKCB, a 5NT bid following 4NT does not ask for kings. It asks
partner if he has any important feature to show--usually a king
lower in rank than the agreed suit, but perhaps a singleton with
lots of trumps. With more than one such feature to show, choose the
one that is most likely to help partner evaluate grand slam
chances. If in doubt, bid the lower ranking feature:
Opener Responder
1S 3S
4D 4S
4NT 5C - 1 or 4 key cards
5NT ?
Responder bids 6C with the club king (denying the diamond king),
6D with the diamond king. With both, she bids 6D, the suit opener
has cue bid. Opener can now bid 7S with S-K87432 H-A D-AQ932 C-A.
The 5NT bid guarantees that all the aces and the king of trumps
are held by the partnership. If the partner of the 5NT bidder can
see that a grand slam is okay on the basis of this knowledge, he
can just bid the grand slam instead of showing some feature.
Sometimes a player will bid 5NT just to tell partner that all key
cards are held, with no intention of bidding seven himself. Then
partner may have the stuff to bid seven.
RKCB does not apply when an opponent overcalls the 4NT bid.
Instead, only show aces, using DOPI or DEPO principles. If 4NT gets
doubled, a pass shows no key cards and a redouble is to play.
Otherwise the double is ignored.
If the RKCB bidder bids a new suit at the five level after partner
shows key cards, and the bid could not possibly be meant as a final
contract:
-- If the new suit is lower in rank than the agreed suit, he is
asking about the queen of trumps:
Opener Responder
1S 3S
4NT 5D - 0 or 3 key cards
5H
The 5H bid asks, "Do you have the queen of trumps?" Without the
queen, responder signs off in 5S. With it, she bids the next higher
ranking bid other than a sign-off, in this case 5NT. Extra length
can count as a queen, as said before.
When there is enough bidding space below six of the agreed suit,
it is possible to show one extra card when lacking the queen or
"queen equivalent" by bidding one rank higher than the queen-
showing bid:
Opener Responder
1C 3C
4NT 5C - 1 or 4 key cards
5D? 5H - queen or six clubs
5S - five clubs, no queen
6C - four clubs, no queen
The 3C bid does not absolutely guarantee five cards, which
therefore represent "an extra card."
-- If the new suit is higher in rank than the agreed suit, he is
demanding that you bid 5NT. Probably the partnership lacks two key
cards and he sees that 5NT is the safest contract.
It will often happen that the 4NT bidder cannot ask about the queen
of trumps without going to the six level. If he needs that
information for a grand slam bid, he can bid six of a suit that
could not possibly become the trump suit:
Opener Responder
1H 3C
3H 4NT
5D 6D
Hearts are the "agreed" suit, although responder could have placed
the contract in 6C if she wished. The 6D bid asks about the queen
of hearts, without which opener must bid 6H. As usual, two cards
of extra length (7 cards in this case) may be counted as a queen.
With the queen of hearts or extra length, opener bids 7C, just in
case responder would rather play clubs than hearts.
Opener Responder
1H 4NT
5D 6S - natural, sign-off
6C - asks for the heart queen
If responder wants to play in a suit lower than opener's suit, he
must bid the suit before using RKCB.
Exclusion Blackwood
To use this simple version of Exclusion Blackwood, a player first
makes a splinter bid with a void, then immediately bids 4NT:
Opener Responder
1S 4C - splinter bid
4S 4NT - Exclusion Blackwood
The responses are the same as for regular RKCB, except that the ace
of the void suit is not counted as a key card.
This means you cannot use regular RKCB on the next round after
splintering with a singleton, but you can do so if you have made
an intervening bid:
Opener Responder
1S 4C - splinter bid
4D 4H - cue bid
4S 4NT - regular RKCB
Another case of Exclusion Blackwood is an immediate 4NT bid after
cue bidding an opposing suit:
South West North East
1S 2C 3C Pass
3S Pass 4NT - Exclusion Blackwood
South ignores the ace of clubs when responding. A 4NT bid made by
a cue bidder's partner is regular RKCB, not Exclusion Blackwood.