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After establishing a suit that will most probably be trump, more often than not the King of trumps will be as important as any of the Aces. For Keycard Blackwood, assume that King to be an Ace. (Five aces in this deck!? Well, let's call them "Keycards".) Even the Queen of trumps gets special treatment.
Two variants of Keycard are often called 1430
(pronounced "fourteen thirty") and 3014 ("thirty fourteen").
Responses, playing 1430, after an asking 4
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Blackwood Responses : |
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Why agree to play Keycard Gerber when you're already playing Keycard Blackwood?
They shouldn't both be in effect on the same hand. It's one or the other.
Keycard Gerber is in effect after NT openings or rebids. Otherwise Keycard Blackwood
is. They're mutually exclusive.
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A,
A,
A
and
AThe
Q IS NOT
a keycard, but you might be able to show it.
Previously you might have used 4
to show club shortness. Now it asks for Keycards in the implied trump suit,
hearts.
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This is the important "quantitative ask".
Opener (usually 15-17) PASSes with a minimum OR bids 6N with a maximum.
Super Accepts
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Here Opener skips a level to show 4+ hearts and a maximum.
Is the enthused Responder cuebidding or Keycard Gerbering?
Does there have to be a skip to 4
for Gerber to be in effect in your partnership ?
Would 4N have been quantitative despite an implicit 9+ card trump fit? What
would 4
have been?
Jumps from NT with clubs implicitly trump if no other has been suggested is
my choice.
In the above auction then, 4
is a cuebid, 4N would have been Keycard and 4
would have been "Exclusion Keycard" for spades, Keycard Gerber not
in effect because a quantitative 4N given a known 9+ card trump fit isn't
useful as an alternatively lost 4
cuebid.
Exclusion Keycard asks for Keycards outside of a suit, suggesting a void in
that suit.
It's back to 4 Aces with a real Ace disqualified and the K and Q of trumps still
important.
| In the auction: |
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A,
A,
A
A
| Hand 1: | Axxx |
KJx |
KJx |
QJx |
would respond 4 |
| Hand 2: | Axxx |
AJx |
AJx |
QJx |
would respond 4 |
| Hand 3: | Axxx |
AQx |
KQx |
Jxx |
would respond 4 , 2 keycards withOUT the
trump Q |
| Hand 4: | Axxx |
AJx |
KJx |
QJx |
would respond 4N, 2 keycards WITH the trump |
| Hand 5: | Axxx |
AJx |
Axx |
Axx |
would respond 4 |
| Hand 6: | KQxx |
KQx |
KQxx |
Qx |
would respond 4 |
In Hands 1, 2 and 6 Responder holds the Q of trumps but can't show it unless
partner asks for it specifically by bidding the suit above the keycard showing
response (if that suit is not trumps and there is at least another step before
trump).
With Hand 1, the auction might proceed:
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4
asks for keycards in clubs
4
promised 1 or 4
4
asked for the
Q
5
promised
Q,
showed
K, and denied
the
K that lower level (cheaper)
4
alternative would have shown.
Since Opener is always bidding NT, there are never useful voids to
show in this version of Keycard Gerber.
Good partnerships can distinguish between whether 1 or 4 keycards are held,
but some cater to the uncertainty by having the Keycard responder bid 5 of the
agreed suit if 0/1 keycards aren't sufficient for slam.
Responders with 3/4 keycards bid on, perhaps showing a cheapest king (in contrast
to regular Blackwood when the 4NT bidder sets the contract.)