Oct 11 2009
1430 with Void Responses
Most people nowadays play Roman Keycard Blackwood, or its popular variant, 1430. However, not everyone knows the extended responses beyond “two with the Queen”. I guess that is not standard, but they come in quite handy when they apply.
| 5C | 1 or 4 keycards |
| 5D | 0 or 3 keycards |
| 5H | 2 (or 5) keycards w/o the Queen of trumps |
| 5S | 2 (or 5) keycards with the Queen of trumps |
| 5NT | 2 (or 4) keycards with a useful void |
| 6 of a lower ranking suit | 1 or 3 keycards and a useful void in the bid suit |
| 6 of the trump suit | 1 or 3 keycards and a useful void in a higher ranking suit |
Notes:
- Any void shown should be a useful void. When partner opens one of a major, a void in his suit is not useful. Do not show it.
- When you have both the Queen of trumps and a void, it is a judgment call. Do you like your hand enough to commit to slam and bypass 5 of your major? With 3 keys, surely it’s safe to show. With 1? The auction can often give a clue.
- If you two keys without the Queen of trumps and a void, i would tend not to show it unless it is a suit the opponents have overcalled.
- If you play kickback or redwood or any variant ace-asking bid, obviously just shift the responses down the appropriate number of levels.
- The “or 5″ and “or 4″ keycard responses above are rare, but can and do happen when the weaker hand is asking a 2C opener about keycards. You must know how to show large numbers of keys.