Click here to view Part 1 of the video commentary<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nBridgeHands<\/em> members – after logging in, please scroll down to view text and video…<\/strong><\/p>\nOn Polling You #51, let’s compare the 1430 RKC Blackwood convention to the classic Blackwood bid.\u00a0 No convention is flawless yet as the saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.”<\/strong><\/p>\nSo while it sounds cool to have a handy tool that discloses extra honor information for the same price, the cost of admission is increased complexity.\u00a0And in the shadow of complexity lurks the opportunity for confusion.\u00a0 So what’s an inspiring Bridge player to do?\u00a0 For 1430 RKC types, it’s all about practice.\u00a0 And for classic Blackwood bidders, focus on your bidding before launching into a 4 Notrump Ace asking sequence – much can be learned before the auction gets into thin air.\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, here’s your chance to share your thoughts on slam bidding and learn some easily overlooked factors to improve your bidding accuracy.<\/strong><\/p>\nPossible Blackwood Shortcomings:<\/strong><\/div>\nTrump King – Status unknown at the 5 level of bidding.<\/strong><\/div>\nTrump Queen – Status always a mystery.<\/strong><\/div>\nDouble Count Quandary: Possible double counting on a side suit, preferable to hold Trump King-Queen.
\nClassic Blackwood Players Must Carefully Consider Hand Evaluation:<\/strong><\/div>\nCuebid Aces\/Kings instead of quickly launching into 4 Notrump Ace ask, despite holding 29+ total points.<\/strong><\/div>\nAvoid Blackwood lacking controls in a side suit.<\/strong><\/div>\nConsider implications of prior limiting bid: Notrump, limit raise, signoff bids.<\/strong><\/div>\nBlackwood response point count analysis:
\nEvaluate response to 4 Notrump Ace ask.
\nConsider location of trump King and Queen.<\/strong><\/div>\nExample:
\n1S – 3S;
\n4N – 5H;\u00a0\u00a0 2 Aces, classic Blackwood.
\nThus, if opener has 1 Ace, 3 outside Kings, and 4 Queens…
\nPartner is likely to hold the trump King and\/or Queen.<\/strong><\/div>\nValue Aces and Kings over points associated with Queens and Jacks, especially in slam zone.<\/strong><\/div>\nValue extra trump, with Ace-King and a 9 card suit the Queen will drop doubleton 40 percent of the time.\u00a0 With a 10 card 10, the Queen will drop doubleton 78 percent of the time.<\/strong><\/div>\nBe careful not to overvalue a “working split honor combination” – solid suits are best (for pitching, too).<\/strong><\/div>\nSecondary trump honors are helpful – finesse opportunity.<\/strong><\/div>\nUse caution whe holding an unguarded split King – Jack requiring a 50-50 finesse chance (unless you can somehow endplay an opponent).<\/strong><\/div>\nShape Matters!\u00a0 Value length and shortness.<\/strong><\/div>\nBe wary of doubleton split honor suits\u00a0(Ace-Queen or King -Jack).\u00a0 Partner may hold the same!<\/strong><\/div>\nMirrored tripletons can also create problems:
\nPrefer 5-4-3-1 and 5-4-2-2 or even a 4-4-3-2 over a 5-3-3-2 holding.
\nWorse yet, be wary of the 4-3-3-3 flat hand – no ruffing values.
\nClassic Blackwood or 1430 RKC?<\/strong><\/div>\n1430 RKC:
\nTrump King and Queen – immediate status.
\nMethods may be use elsewhere (Minor, Gerber Mini-Max).
\nWith sophistication comes complexity.
\nExample:
\n2C – 2D;
\n2H – 4N;
\n5D – ?
\nCannot Queen ask here.<\/strong><\/p>\nAlways consider first showing support and cuebidding controls over the 4 Notrump jump:
\n2C – 2D;
\n2H – 3H;
\n4N – 5C;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Responder show 1 Ace in 14-30 style.
\n5D – 5H…\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now responder can easily respond to an Ace ask (first step denies).
\nClassic Blackwood:
\nTrump King and Queen – “Might” be deduced after a player makes a limit raise.
\nCarefully consider pre-Blackwood hand evaluation.
\nLess complex – avoids some\u00a0mis-evaluation issues.
\nLess confusing – avoids some partnership misunderstandings.<\/p>\n
Free, Premium and ULTRA members – please login to view video of additional hand\/s <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nPlease login or register to view this content.<\/strong><\/p>\nPlease login or register to view this content.\nHappy Bridge Trails and Tales,<\/strong><\/p>\nBridgeHands<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1430 RKC versus Classic Blackwood: Slams in Contract Bridge JavaScript needs to be enabled for polling to work. Online Surveys by Constant Contact.Click here to view Part 1 of the video commentary BridgeHands members – after logging in, please scroll down to view text and video… On Polling You #51, let’s compare the 1430 RKC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2060,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/2060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgehands.com\/bridgeblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}