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Roman Keycard Blackwood




Roman Keycard Black - RKCB
RKCB is an improvement to the older and standard version of the Blackwood 4NT convention.that.  Long ago, a bid of 4NT was used to specifically ask partner how many aces he held, but RKCB improves this agreement by considering the king of trump as important as an ace, which means there are five possible steps to the question.  The four aces and the trump king are cosidered as Key Cards.

RKCB can only be played when there is an agreement on a particular suit as trump. Some partnerships agree that if you bid 4NT directly over a 1-level opening bid it should be "standard" (aces-only) Blackwood, since no suit has been agreed on.  These players show only the number of aces in such an auction.  Other partnerships make the agreement that the last bid suit can be used to define which suit contains a king to be treated as a keycard.  Your choice.

The responses to 4NT are five step bids, starting at 5 to show the five key cards -- That's the four aces, plus the king of the agreed suit. The meanings of responses to 4NT are:
      5   0 or 3 key cards
      5   1 or 4 key cards
      5   2 or 5 key cards - no Queen of trump  
      5   2 or 5 key cards - with the Queen
      5NT    2 or 4 key cards and a void


    A jump to the 6-level in a suit below the trump suit shows a specific void in that suit with 1 or 3 keycards

These responses are standard and are commonly called "3014." (Thirty Fourteen)   Perhaps equally as popular is to use 1430, (Fourteen Thirty) which reverses the meaning of the 5 and 5 responses.  (Instead of 5 showing 0 or 3 keycards, it shows 1 or 4, and the 5 call is also reversed... showing 0 or 3 keycards.
    I have no idea which method is superior as I do not use RKCB.  I prefer MSK, Major Suit Keycard, which avoids the problems inherent in RKCB. -- R.W.


Asking About Kings
After a 5-level response to 4NT, the Blackwooder can continue with 5NT which asks about the number of kings held by responder.  There are only three kings, as the trump king is considered a keycard.
    There are only three steps in answer to the king-ask 5NT call.

      6   0 kings  
      6   1 king  
      6   2 kings  

Specific Kings
Many players modify these steps to show a specific king instead of the number of kings.  After the 5NT asking call, responder bids the cheapest suit where he holds a king.  This bid also denies a king below that suit.  With no kings, the response is six of the agreed trump suit.

Responder should also retreat to six of the trump suit if his cheapest king is higher in rank than the trump suit -- for example, the agreed suit is hearts and the only king held by responder is in spades.  (Perhaps a majority of players consider this a fatal flaw of Specific Kings, but you will have to make your own decision.)

If the Blackwooder asks for kings with the 5NT question, there is an implied guarantee that all five key cards are in the pairs possession.  There is an interest in a grand slam.  Responder should evaluate his hand for as yet undisclosed extra values.

Finding the Trump Queen
If responder has 2 key cards, He can bid either 5 or 5 to either deny or show the queen of trump.  (Having to rebid 5 to show two keycards with the queen means the partnership will sometimes be forced to bid a slam off two aces.  Another fatal flaw.)

The player initiating the RKCB sequence can also use a next-step bid after a 5 or 5 response.  To do this, the Blackwooder bids the cheapest step over the response.

Responder retreats to five of the trump suit to deny holding the queen.  If responder holds the trump queen but no outside kings, he rebids 5NT.  With at least one king and the trump queen responder bid the cheapest suit where he holds a king.  After responder bids his cheapest king, the Blackwooder can bid a new suit to ask about a king in that suit.
(NOTE:   The Blackwooder does not show his specific kings.)

Roy Wilson