Void Responses to Blackwood

[jexa_]

Hey everybody,

 

It seems that "standard" responses to rkcb with a void somewhere is to bid 5NT with even keycards and a void and 6 of the void suit (if its lowest than the agreed suit) or the agreed suit (if your void is in a higher suit) with odd keycards. So 2-3 questions

 

Firstly, is there a particular reason you bid 5NT with even keycards or it doesnt matter if you show odd keycards with this bid?

 

Secondly, how do you continue after a 5NT bid ? Didnt find anything online so what i play is this :I bid a suit, if this is your void then lets play a grand slam. Kinda works well if trumps are spades but not if its hearts with a spade looser/void

 

Lastly, is there another "better" method ?

 

Cheers.

[mycroft]

2) it's a "useful" void. So, usually it's either obvious or doesn't matter. Sometimes it does, in which case, yes, either "6x is 'if this is your void, bid the grand' or 6♣ is 'bid your void, trumps is clubs' (have to be prepared for a 6♠ call with hearts trumps, of course).

1) As long as you agree with partner (which, in fact, one of my partnerships has just done, for memory reasons), then no, there's no issue. One of the arguments in favour of 5NT=even, however, is that "3 and a useful void" is uncommon, so usually odd is 1. With 1, it's more likely that you actually care about which suit the void is in, so show it directly. With 2-and-a-void, that's *usually* 3 suits covered (yes, I know, trump AK), and it should be obvious from the auction.

3) well, yes. There's lots of "better" methods, some of which are even better. But unless you're Meckwell, for the number of times you're going to have a blackwood-void auction, the amount of work to learn, and the danger if one of you doesn't remember, the better versions could be much more usefully spent on more common auctions. Frankly, I insist on "no Gerber ever" in my partnerships; I'd prefer "no Blackwood ever, either" to "I have to remember complicated void responses".

[Lovera]

Let you see it: http://www.bridgebas...post__p__819065

(Lovera)

[Zelandakh]

Firstly, is there a particular reason you bid 5NT with even keycards or it doesnt matter if you show odd keycards with this bid?

It does not really matter but as even is a synonym for balanced, 5NT for an even number is slightly easier to remember. Note also that some who use alternative calls than 4NT for RKCB will also have an alternative response for 5NT for this, which is itself a complication. That complication would of course solve your "heart suit with spade void" issue though...

 

Secondly, how do you continue after a 5NT bid ? Didnt find anything online so what i play is this :I bid a suit, if this is your void then lets play a grand slam. Kinda works well if trumps are spades but not if its hearts with a spade looser/void

It should generally be obvious from the previous bidding where the void is. If not then there is a good chance you jumped to RKCB too quickly. Typically the same rules apply as after a 5m response, the first step is a queen ask, second step asks for specific kings and higher steps are SSAs, although you can agree something specific here if you want for the twice a year it might come up.

 

Lastly, is there another "better" method ?

There are some alternatives along the way such as void splinters and methods that will identify a void at a lower level allowing for more information exchange but the truth is that for a typical I/A pair using basic RKCB, there is not really anything better once 4NT is called. Indeed, most intermediate players are probably so bad at judging the usefulness of a void that they might be best off not ever using a void response at all with fewer than 2 key cards!