Kickback confusion

[mike777]

Playing Kickback for first time, I find it very confusing.

Not only responses, void showing, specific K showing, etc but when it is on.

 

Assuming suit auction:

 

If kickback or 4nt bid is an option, what does one mean over the other?

 

If one has started a cuebidding sequence...can Kickback come into play?

 

What about cuebidding an opp suit when that may be Kickback?

 

Thought only strong/Unknown hand can bid blackwood or Kickback 99% of time, but am told not true

 

Just had hand where partner is passed hand and I overcalled and then cuebid...and partner bid Kickback and I thought it was a cuebid of Opp suit.

 

As it turns out my next bid was correct....response..but for me Kickback never entered my mind on auction.

 

Dazed and Confused

[Chamaco]

Playing Kickback for first time, I find it very confusing.

Not only responses, void showing, specific K showing, etc but when it is on.

 

Assuming suit auction:

 

If kickback or 4nt bid is an option, what does one mean over the other?

 

If one has started a cuebidding sequence...can Kickback come into play?

 

What about cuebidding an opp suit when that may be Kickback?

 

Thought only strong/Unknown hand can bid blackwood or Kickback 99% of time, but am told not true

 

Just had hand where partner is passed hand and I overcalled and then cuebid...and partner bid Kickback and I thought it was a cuebid of Opp suit.

 

As it turns out my next bid was correct....response..but for me Kickback never entered my mind on auction.

 

Dazed and Confused

I answer only for sequences where the trump suit has been clearly agreed.

 

Let's say HEARTS are agreeed.

 

Then 4S is always RKCB.

 

Then 4NT always substitutes the suit used for kickback (either as cuebid, or EKB, according to your pship agreements).

 

In other words the most common cases are:

 

1) during a cuebid sequence, 4NT is a cuebid in the kickback suit (e.g. if clubs are trumps, diamond is the kickback suit, and 4NT is a cue in diamonds; if diams are trumps, hearts is the kickback suit, and 4NT is a cue in hearts);

Some extra agreements are needed for minor suit slam invstigations, where sometimes 4NT can be played as a sort of "Last Train", but this is up to ptship agreements;

2) if you use Exclusion Blackwood, when hearts are trumps, 4NT can be agreed as EKB excluding spade Ace.

 

3) the most confusing case is when the kickback suit has been previously bid by a pard, especially if it is a major suit;

e.g. assume diams are agreed, and kickback suit id hearts, which previously has been bid naturally by you or pard;

then you need precise agreements as to whether:

a) having greed a minor, bidding the major is never to play OR

b ) when the kickback suit has been bid by one player, showing a 5+ card suit, it cannot be kickback but is a natural signoff; in that case the kickback suit is moved to the next higher non ambiguous suit;

 

4) you need to agree whether jumping to the kickback suit without previous agreements sets trumps and is kickback or not.

E.g. 1S:2D:4H

Is the jump to 4H kickback for diamonds or not ?

 

If it is, you can play that a jump agreement to the minor suit itself is asking for cuebids, whereas a jump to the kickback suit is keycard ask

 

If it is not, then you have to play that a jump to 4 of the minor is RKC