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Beginners Lessons
(Lessons by Allan & Claire Whiteford) |
Blackwood is a system used to help bid slams and is a mechanism for finding out how many aces and or kings are held between a partnership
Blackwood
4NT asks for the presence of Aces. The replies are:
- 5C - 0 or 4 Aces
- 5D - 1 Ace
- 5H - 2 Aces
- 5S - 3 Aces
To find out about Kings bid 5NT. The replies are:
- 6C - 0 or 4 Kings
- 6D - 1 King
- 6H - 2 Kings
- 6S - 3 Kings
Asking for Kings automatically commits a partnership to a slam and many players operate a variation on standard Blackwood where bidding the next suit up other than the trump suit asks for Kings.
Keycard Blackwood (KCB)
This is a refinement of Blackwood and treats the King of Trumps as a keycard.
4NT asks for the presence of Keycards i.e. 4 Aces and King of Trumps (Keycards). If trumps have not explicitly been agreed then use the last bid suit as trumps. The replies are:
- 5C - 0 or 4 keycards
- 5D - 1 or 5 keycards
- 5H - 2 keycards
- 5S - 3 keycards
Roman Keycard Blackwood (RKCB)
Many of the better players play RKCB, which asks for the 5 Keycards but also the Queen of trumps. This is a more complex system and beginners may be better keeping things simple untill they become more practised.