Roman Key Card - Minor Suits

 

Using 4NT as Blackwood when the minor suits have been agreed is ineffective, the auction runs out of space all too often.  For this reason, many tournament players use Minorwood or Redwood, each of which is a more economical method of starting a control-asking sequence.  These conventions should be handled with care, they may be efficient but only when the partnership is well-rehearsed and on the same wavelength.

 

 

3rd May, 2006                   Board 8       Dealer West        None Vul

 

 

In this Jacoby Transfer sequence, 3♦ was natural and game-forcing, and 3♥ agreed Diamonds.  At this point, South has a perfect hand for Roman Key Card Blackwood, and there are various ways that this can be done, depending on partnership agreement:

     4NT:              We’ve seen before that using 4NT in minor suit auctions can be ineffective, there’s not

                            always enough bidding space (though on this deal the straightforward 4NT works just fine);

     Redwood:      Some partnerships use 4♦ as Blackwood with Clubs agreed, and 4♥ as Blackwood with

                            Diamonds agreed;

     Minorwood:   This is the method used in the featured auction … Diamonds are agreed, the auction is

                            game-forcing and 4 of the agreed minor is available as Blackwood.
 

 

2nd May, 2007                   Board 32      Dealer West       E-W Vul

 

 

The E-W methods do not include Inverted Minors, so Partner’s 3♦ bid is invitational in strength, denying a 4-card major.  South’s Double was a surprise, there are obviously a large number of HCP’s in this deck!  Actually, the Double makes our hand look even better, surely if Partner has a minor suit Ace then there will be at least a play for slam.

 

What are your Ace-Asking methods in this situation?  It’s well-known that using 4NT does not work well in minor suits auctions, all too often the response gets the auction too high.  Here are some alternatives:

-         Minorwood:  In this method, in a forcing auction with a minor suit agreed, a bid of 4 of the minor can be used as Roman Key Card.  It’s a good method, but of no use here, we are not in a forcing auction..

-         Redwood:  In this method, the red suits are Ace-asking … 4♦ when Clubs are agreed, and 4♥ when Diamonds are agreed.  Perfect!  Over South’s Double we jump to 4♥, and when Partner shows one Key Card we bid the slam.  Redwood works fine here, but sometimes confusion creeps into the auction.  For example, if Hearts have already been bid by us, 4♥ might be ambiguous.

-        Bothwood:  Actually we like to play both Minorwood and Redwood!  If a Minorwood bid is available we use it, but if, as here, Minorwood is not in effect, then we revert to Redwood.
 

 

9th May, 2007                   Board 27      Dealer South       None Vul

 

 

An awkward situation!  We have a terrific hand opposite Partner’s opening bid and it seems reasonable to assume that we belong in 3NT or a slam of some sort.  One problem is that Partner may have a minimum or may have extras, her hand strength remains something of a mystery.

 

We really don’t think that the North hand is good enough to go charging into a 4NT Ace-asking sequence.  On the other hand it is way too good simply to sign off in 3NT.  Oh, how nice it would be if North could make a 4NT “value bid”!  Yes, it’s possible, but only if the partnership has another way of invoking Roman Key Card.  There are indeed such methods out there, namely Minorwood and Redwood, for which we commend you to the Convention Library.  And, if such methods are indeed available, we would say that the 4NT value bid is just about perfect for this hand.

 

 

17th May, 2006                 Board 31      Dealer South       N-S Vul

 

 

East’s 2♥ bid does not show (nor deny) extras, and some would play that it tends to deny a fifth Diamond.  After Partner’s 3♦ bid, East can be pretty much assured that the hand belongs in 6, and has aspirations to a grand slam.  We like to use Minorwood in situations like this, it’s more economical that using 4NT to ask for Key Cards.  All the ingredients for a Minorwood adventure are in place:

(a)    the auction is game-forcing;

(b)   Diamonds have been bid and raised;

(c)    No other suit has been agreed.

 

So, if you play Minorwood, here is your chance … bid 4♦, Roman Key Card Blackwood.

 

 

26th July, 2006                  Board 30       Dealer East       None Vul

 

 

Here, E-W’s minor suit RKCB agreements are put to the test.  Here are the options:

(a) Minorwood:  If you play this convention, are you sure that this is actually a Minorwood situation?  We think it should be, but the situation is a little murky … was 3♥ absolutely game-forcing? … are Clubs firmly agreed?

(b)   Redwood:  Yes, 4♦ here is clearly RKCB for the Redwooders.

(c)    4NT: In the absence of Redwood and Minorwood, 4NT sounds like it should be RKCB.

 

This time, we’ll take Redwood out for a spin

             West     North   East      South

                                      1♣         2♥

              3♥       Pass     3NT      Pass

              4♦        Pass     5♣        Pass

             7♣        Pass     Pass     Pass

 

4♦ was RKCB, 5♣ showed 2 with the Queen of trumps.

 

 

© BES, Inc

All Rights Reserved