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Roman Key Card Blackwood
No doubt about it, Roman Key Card is an immense improvement on the original Ace-asking version of Blackwood. Please see the link to the Convention Library for the basics of this convention. Below are some examples of Roman Key Card situations, see also the material on "Minor Suit RKCB".
7th April, 2010 N-S Vul
East would like to invite a No Trump slam on this hand. Would 4NT do the job? Yes, but only if your partnership has clear agreements in this situation, and if you can be sure that Partner will not take this as Roman Key Card for Hearts. Our suggestion is that 4NT should not agree Hearts here, if that was your intention you could bid Fourth Suit Forcing (2♠), then support with 3♥ (forcing), then bid 4NT. With that agreement, then 4NT directly over 1♥ can be slam-invitational in No Trump.
2nd June, 2010 E-W Vul
South is interested in slam, realizing that all Partner needs is the ♠K and a red Ace for slam to have at least a play. N-S may be playing the “Feature” follow-up in Weak Two auctions, but that won’t help much here, because if Partner has the ♥K that will be a useless card. So, it looks like Roman Key Card is called for. However, bidding 4NT here might get N-S too high … picture Partner with neither red Ace, and then further picture a nasty Diamond lead through South’s hand. For this reason, some pairs play 4♣ here as Roman Key Card, and that works well on the actual deal, allowing North to stop in 4♠. While we are on the subject, we could also mention that some pairs use revised Key Card responses, namely 01122 (zero KC’s, one KC without the Queen of trumps, one KC with, two without, two with).
4th November, 2009 None Vul
Let’s suppose that N-S are in a game-forcing auction here. What would you bid next? Difficult, isn’t it? There’s no fit, but North is too good to bid only 3NT. Wouldn’t it be nice if 4NT was natural and slam-invitational? Well, it could be if you play Minorwood! If that is the case, 4♦ would be Roman Key Card (with Diamonds as trumps), freeing up 4NT as a natural bid, showing around 18-19 HCP.
Some prefer to play Redwood in these minor suit auctions. Using that method, it is 4 of the suit above the (minor) trump suit which invokes Roman Key Card. In this case that would be 4♥, but the trouble is that Hearts have been bid naturally and in some auctions (maybe including this one) that is a source for potential confusion. Minorwood suffers from the defect that sometimes the only way to agree the minor is at the 4-level, making it impossible to agree the suit without using Roman Key Card at the same time. Minorwood or Redwood? We suggest Bothwood! Use Minorwood subject to certain rules (follow one of those links), and when the rules say that 4 of the minor is not Minorwood then revert to Redwood.
7th March, 2007 Board 2 N-S Vul
Obviously this hand is going to at least the small slam, it’s merely a question of whether seven should be bid. In these auctions, it’s customary for the 2♣ opener to take charge. Does this mean that North should bid 4NT here? We don’t think so, this hand needs secondary and tertiary values for the grand slam to make, and using Roman Key Card will not help at all. We suggest a 4♥ cue-bid, which should tell Partner two things: - We have a Heart card - Our hand is such that we do not want to bid Roman Key Card
Our sincerest hope is that Partner will be the one to bid 4NT, after which we’ll show her 4 Key Cards with 5♣ … then she’ll bid 5♦, the Queen Ask, and we’ll bid 6♣, showing the Q♥ and the K♣. After this auction, Partner knows pretty much everything, and should be in a good position to choose between six and seven.
Now let us look at Partner’s hand: ♠ KJT82 ♥ 4 ♦ KJ83 ♣ QT2 If we ask Partner for Key Cards, we’ll learn about the K♠. We can ask for Kings, but that will just confirm what we already know. Now, we’ll be guessing … Partner has the Q♣ which will remain but a mystery, and likewise the singleton Heart … two important assets of which the decision-maker will be unaware.
Now, let’s look again at Partner's hand in the knowledge that Partner’s Partner (that would be us), holds ♠ AQ ♥ A ♦ A ♣ AK. It’s impossible to construct a hand for North which does not give the grand slam at least a play in 7♠, and most of the time 7♠ will be cold.
Yes, usually the stronger hand takes charge, and here the stronger hand is actually South. Well, at least it is stronger when you take out the Key Cards, Q♠ and the minor suit Kings. Now, in terms of undisclosed values, South has the mighty Q♣, that magnificent Heart singleton, and the intriguing J♦. And North? Nothing at all, unless you count that pathetic little J♣!
It looks like we’ve beaten that one to death, let’s move on.
24th May, 2006 Board 17 None Vul
Opposite that Weak Two, South is good enough to be thinking about slam, but she needs a suitable hand from Partner. How best to investigate slam? The options are: (a) Bid 2NT … if you play that 2NT asks for a feature (the method which worked so well on Board 2 last week), then 2NT here is not particularly useful, especially if Partner denies a feature … if you play that 2NT is some type of Ogust bid, you’ll be a bit better off, at least Partner will be able to express an opinion about her hand; (b) Bid 3♣ … even if you play this as natural and forcing, it doesn’t seem like a particularly useful solution to the problem … the hand will no doubt be played in Spades and 3♣ seems to be heading out in the wrong direction; (c) Roman Key Card … yes, that would be our choice, our plan is simple (though not foolproof!) … if Partner shows up with the two missing Key Cards, we’ll go to slam, otherwise we’ll subside in game … and we’ll miss those slams where North has a one Key Card perfecto, such as K♥ and a singleton Diamond. But there is a caveat, see below.
After a Weak Two opening, it’s a good idea to play 4♣ as Roman Key Card, giving the partnership a chance to stay at the 4-level when the Weak Two bidder makes his customary disappointing Key Card response. Here, this gadget works like an absolute charm … over 4♣, North shows just one Key Card, and the final contract is the safe 4♠, and not the perilous 5♠.
In response to that 4♣ Key Card ask, you could just use the standard 1430 responses, but opposite a Weak Two (or other preempts) you may want to tinker with them, and use 01122 instead, as in: 4♦ 0 Key Cards 4♥ 1 Key Card without the Queen of trumps 4♠ 1 Key Card with 4NT 2 Key Cards without 5♣ 2 Key Cards with These responses presume that you would never open a Weak Two with 3 Key Cards, which we are sure is the case.
9th August, 2006 Board 23 Both Vul
When we bid 2♠ we showed at least a game-invitational hand with Heart support ... when Partner bid 3♦ she was showing one of two hand types: (a) a hand which is still interested in game but not quite good enough to bid it directly; (b) a hand with (at least mild) slam aspirations . South has extras of her own, don't you think? Actually, she has extra extras, so, rather than just lazily bidding the game, we recommend a bid of 4♣ over 3♦, a cue-bid offering some hope for Partner if she has higher aspirations.
Now, what is our response to 4NT? Assuming that we are playing Roman Key Card Blackwood, and further assuming that we are at the top of our game, we can count 2 Key Cards and an absence of the Queen of trumps. Is this a 5♥ response? No, not at all, North has extra trump length, and can tell that her side has at least 10 trumps, making the Queen an unnecessary luxury (most of the time) … in these circumstances, North is allowed to claim ownership of the Q♥.
6th September, 2006 Board 1 None Vul
North South ♠ 3 ♠ AQJ954 ♥ AKJT965 ♥ 7 ♦ T4 ♦ KQ6 ♣ AT6 ♣ KQ5
North South 1♥ 1♠ 3♥ 3♠ 4♥ 4NT 5♦ 5♥ Pass
N-S got into a strong auction, then South bid 4NT which was Roman Key Card … as no suit had been explicitly agreed, trumps were assumed to be the previously bid suit, namely Hearts. N-S were playing 1430, which meant that North’s response of 5♦ showed 0 or 3 Key Cards … and that’s where things start to get interesting!
The question is this: After South’s 5♥, is North supposed to pass with 0 Key Cards, and bid again with 3 Key Cards?
Or, to put it another way: After using Roman Key Card, and getting one of those ambiguous 0/3 or 1/4 responses, is it assumed that the Roman Key Card bidder knows which Partner has?
One would think that the development of the auction would make it quite clear, after all there is a huge difference between the 0 and 3 (notwithstanding the fact that a French pair in a World Championship once got a 0/4 response wrong and ended up in a grand slam missing all 4 Aces!).
We offer two agreements, pick the one you like the best: Agreement A: The RKCB Asker is not assumed to know whether Partner has the higher number of Key Cards, he assumes the worst and signs off at the 5-level. Then, if Partner has the higher number, he is obliged to bid again. This implies that the Asker must have at least one Key-Card to invoke RKCB, otherwise he will ask, hear “0 or 3”, and be unable to sign off at the 5-level (Partner, of course, being obliged to bid again). Agreement B: The RKCB Asker is assumed to know which of the two possibilities Partner has. Therefore, when the Asker bids 5 of the agreed suit, Partner is not obliged to bid on with the higher number of Key Cards.
We prefer B (we think that the Asker should not be using RKCB if he won’t be able to discern the difference between 0 and 3), but many people play A, so take your pick. However, if you choose Agreement B, we suggest that you also refrain from invoking RKCB holding no Key Cards (just like the Agreement A players). That way, the 5♥ bid in the featured auction is not a sign-off, it allows Partner some discretion as to whether or not to bid 6. In the featured hand, Partner will not bid on, he has absolutely nothing extra.
3rd October, 2007 Board 2
♠ Q ♠ AKT95 ♥ QJ75 ♥ AKT4 ♦ AKQJ3 ♦ 8 ♣ KJT ♣ A87
North South 1♠ 2♦ 2♥ 3♥ ??
Let’s say that 2♦ was game-forcing. In that case, North’s raise to 3♥ was not only forcing, but also stronger than a direct 4♥. Yes, it’s the Principle of Fast Arrival in action. At this point in the proceedings, with both partners in possession of substantial extras, somebody eventually needs to assume control and guide this auction into the right slam. Who should be taking charge here? Remember, the goal is to get to 7NT with confidence.
We’ll start by looking at the South hand. Suppose that she takes charge with a 4NT Roman Key Card inquiry. West will show one Key Card (let’s say with 5♣, 1430 responses), and now South can try 5♦, the Queen Ask. North responds 6♣, confirming possession of the Q♥ and also showing the K♣. What next? Good question! North has not learned too much, has she? Look at all of North’s undisclosed treasures … the running Diamond suit … the J♥ (useful against 4-1 trump breaks) … and the Q♠. It’s hard for South to visualize 13 No Trump tricks.
OK, how do things work if North takes charge? Pretty well! Let’s say that South cue-bids (over 3♥) with 4♣ and then North tries Roman Key Card. South responds 5♣ showing 1 or 4 Key Cards, then the King Ask (5NT for most pairs) unveils the K♠. At this point, South has shown all of her values and North can easily count at least 13 tricks in No Trump.
Yes, North must take charge here, she is the one with the intangible values that won’t come to light in a routine Roman Key Card auction if Partner is the one who is doing the asking.
2nd February, 2008 Board 3 E-W Vul
This one is a methods check. 4♦ was a Splinter, that much is pretty clear, but what is that 5NT response to Roman Key Card? The most common treatment is that it shows two Key Cards and a void. Perfect! That’s all you need to bid 7♠ with assurance. Well, maybe not complete assurance, though surely Partner has the K♥ for that strong bidding, and, failing that, even Kxx in Clubs without the K♥ would be enough.
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