Better Bridge in Barry County March 7 2013

Better Bridge in Barry County

By Gerald Stein

 

 

	North ♠  7 6 2 ♥  Q J 8 2 ♦  ----- ♣  A K Q 9 7 3
West ♠  A 9 5 4 3 ♥  6 5 ♦  J 8 5 ♣  10 5 4		East ♠  Q J ♥  9 ♦  10 9 7 6 4 3 2 ♣  J 8 2
	South ♠  K 10 8 ♥  A K 10 7 4 3 ♦  A K Q ♣  6

 

 

Dealer: Vulnerable: Lead:

North None A♠

 

North 1♣ 3♥ 6♦ Pass	East Pass Pass Pass Pass	South 1♥ 4NT 6♥	West Pass Pass Pass

Today’s column takes a look at the Blackwood Convention, the seventh in our eight-part series on The Eight Bridge Conventions You Should Know. Next week the eighth and final convention will be New Minor Forcing, another useful convention for the modern bridge player. But for today, let us look at the Blackwood Convention and the situation when you have a void in your hand and are trying to use the Blackwood Convention. Is a void counted as an ace? How do you show the void if you use Blackwood? These are some of the points we will look at in this column.

With North opening the bidding in the club suit, South bid the heart suit at the one level. With no real hurry to get to slam, it is South who knows the most about the two hands. Adding the points from the 1♣ bid by North (12 high card points) and the 19 high card points in the South hand, it is easy to see that South will consider slam at her next bid. With length in both hands, a void in one hand, and a singleton in the other, this promises to be an excellent try for a slam.

North’s second bid of 3♥ is a strong invitation to game suggesting good heart support with the promised high card points of an opening bid. South now knows the trump suit has been established as hearts, and the Blackwood Convention asking for aces is the convention to use. South bids the 4NT, essentially asking, “Partner, how many aces do you have?” The established response of 5♣ for no aces or all four aces, 5♦ for one ace, 5♥ for two aces, and 5♠ for three aces has been around since Easley Blackwood began writing in the 1930’s and 1940’s about bridge experts using his convention to determine the number of aces and kings held in each hand. The convention is extremely popular and is relatively easy for both partners to learn and use on slam-going hands.

Bridge students often ask if they should count the void as an ace. A void is not an ace; a void is a void. Blackwood Convention is meant to tell your partner about aces. However, in the Blackwood Convention, there is a way to let your partner know that you have a void in your hand once she has asked you how many aces you have. In today’s hand, when South bid 4NT asking North for aces, did you notice North’s response? Instead of bidding 5♦ informing South that he had one ace, North bid 6♦. The jump bid bypassed the expected response and has this meaning: “Partner, I have one ace, and I have a void in my hand.” This part of Blackwood is something many bridge players do not know or have never learned. With the knowledge that North has one ace and a void, South is confident that there is enough strength to bid a small slam and places the contract at 6♥.

West with the lead dutifully led the A♠ winning the first trick. A second spade was taken by South, and South claimed, collecting the next eleven tricks and making a small slam in hearts. Failing to lead the A♠ by West would have allowed South to take all 13 tricks instead of the 12 that North/South were entitled to.

The interesting thing about using the Blackwood Convention is that it is useful to keep you out of a slam when missing more than one ace. While not the perfect convention, it is a handy tool to use and practice with your partner. With a void, there is a way for you to let your partner know about the void as well as any aces you might have. Try it and see if works for you.

Finally, if you are looking for a more sophisticated approach to slam bidding, most modern bridge players have discovered a step up to the Blackwood Convention. Called Roman Key Card Blackwood, this convention uses the four aces and the king of trump for a total of five key cards needed for a slam. Knowing that you have the king of trump as well as the four aces can enhance your slam bidding. Look for a column on Roman Key Card Blackwood in the future.

 

Local Bridge Class News: Another Learn Bridge in a Day Seminar will take place on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at the Kalamazoo Bridge Center in Kalamazoo from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. If you know of those who have always wanted to play bridge, send them to the www.kzoobridge.com site for more information.

 

Gerald Stein

February 27, 2013

Number of words: 890