Roman Keycard Blackwood (RKC)
Rev: July 31, 2000
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Slam
bidding. Use in place of Blackwood. 4 NT is the asking bid for keycards in the
last bid suit or the agreed upon trump suit. There are 5 keycards: All four aces
and the king of trumps. Purpose is to determine how many of the key cards your
side possesses.
1. Basic Keycard Bids
1.1
Responses to 4NT (RKC 0314)
 | 5C
= 0 or 3 keycards |
| 5D = 1 or 4 keycards |
| 5H = 2 or 5 keycards
without the queen of trumps |
|
5S = 2 or 5 keycards with
the queen of trumps. |
| 5NT = 5 keycards without the queen of
trumps (alternate) |
| 6C = 5 keycards with the
queen of trumps (alternate) |
Note:
Some partnership play 5C = 1 or 4 keycards; 5D = 0 or 3 keycards (RKC 1430).
1.2
Responses to 5NT (After Bidding and Responding to 4NT)
5 NT asks for kings other
than the trump king. All 5 keycards are promised.
| 6C
= 0 kings |
| 6D
= 1 king |
| 6H
= 2 kings |
|
Grand Slam = previously undisclosed
source of tricks. |
2. Optional Advanced RKC Bids
2.1 Trump Queen Ask (Major Suits Only)
Instead of bidding 5NT (asking for kings outside of the trump king) the cheapest non-trump suit is bid. All 5 keycards are promised.
[ 4NT : 5D ] : [ 5H.....this is asking for the trump Queen
(if hearts are not trump).
| Without the trump Queen reply with the next bid up. |
| With the trump Queen reply with two
bids up. |
2.2 Specific King And/Or Queen Ask (Major Suits Only)
Bidding a new suit (non-trump and not the cheapest
suit) is asking for the king and/or queen in the bid suit. All 5 keycards are promised.
[ 4NT : 5D ] : [ 5S.....
| Step 1 = neither the king or queen |
| Step 2 = the queen only, not the
king |
| Step 3 = the king only, not the
queen |
| Step 4 = both the king and queen |
| Step 5 = king, queen and jack |
2.3 Answering 4NT (RKC) When Holding a Void
One popular treatment is:
| 5NT
= 0 or 2 keycards plus a void somewhere |
| 6C
= 1 or 3 keycards plus a void in clubs |
| 6D
= 1 or 3 keycards plus a void in diamonds |
| 6H
= 1 or 3 keycards plus a void in hearts |
| 6 of the agreed suit
= 1 or 3 keycards with a void in a higher ranking suit |
Note: Do this as long as the
bid does not go past six of the agreed suit, otherwise make the normal RKC
response.