Signing off in 5NT

Question

Is there a way to signal to partner to not continue the Blackwood and close the bidding at 5NT after starting the 4NT Blackwood?

Answer

There IS a way!

After a partnership starts to ask for Aces with 4NT, a bid of 5NT then asks for Kings. Which is great on the majority of auctions where we want to explore further possiblities. We want to play at the 7 level perhaps.

But what about those auctions where you got too high? You find out your partnership is missing two Aces! Now you CAN'T play at even the 6 level! You instead want to SIGN OFF at the 5 level.

This is all sunshine and unicorns IF you have agreed to play in a suit contract. You just sign off in (say) 5♠ or 5♥ and Partner says "Pass".

But what happens if you wanted to play in 6NT and NOW (since you discovered you were off two Aces!) you want to sign off in 5NT? 5NT would be asking for Kings. You can't do that.

No you can't. So what do you do?

You "sign off" in a suit at the 5 level that you DO NOT want to play in.

Partner is now supposed to know to bid 5NT and now you can "Pass".

Hmmmmmm.

Sounds a little complicated.

Let's see this in action:

N	E	S	W
1♦	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♣	Pass	4NT	Pass
5♣	Pass	5♥	Pass
???

What does this auction mean?

North opened 1♦ and rebid 2♣ to show at least an opening hand with the minors.

South first showed ♠ and then got a little excited and asked for Aces.

North told South how many Aces they had. Playing normal Blackwood they have no Aces.

South has discovered they are missing two Aces!

What can South do?

South should learn a valuable lesson about taking things a little slower so they don't get into this perdicament again.

But that is for a later time. RIGHT NOW South has to get them out of the trouble they are in!

South wants to sign off in 5NT. But bidding 5NT right now asks for Kings! Ahhhhhhh!

So here's where the trick comes in. South bids 5♥.

5♥?!?!? What the heck is that?

Can South want to play in 5♥?

No. This is the first time anyone in the partnership even suggested ♥. That can't be where South wants to play.

So THAT is the tip off to North. North should know NOW to bid 5NT. South will breathe a sigh of relief and "Pass".

Auction to "Sign Off":

N	E	S	W
1♦	Pass	1♠	Pass
2♣	Pass	4NT	Pass
5♣	Pass	5♥	Pass
5NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

How often does this bid occur?

If everyone is bidding properly this bid does not occur often.

However I do play with one Partner who likes to overbid. I haven't quite figured out why since I like to bid slams and then I get excited and we get too high.

This happens quite a bit with him.

Here's an example. Your hand:
♠K983
♥AQJ3
♦Q2
♣AQ2

You hold 18 HCP! Nice! Partner opens the bidding 1♦! Even nicer!

So you respond 1♥. It's a forcing bid.

Partner now bids 3♦! Holy Smokes! This is supposed to show 16 to 18 HCP. (We do play a good 15 HCP with a really good suit.)

So I get excited. I bid 4NT. Partner shows me zero Aces.

How is that even possible?!?

So right now I could just sign off in 5♦. That would be the safe thing to do.

But it's matchpoints. Playing 5♦ and making 5♦ is going to get me a big fat zero matchpoints.

I want to get us to 5NT. Now we will be tied with all the people in 3NT making 11 tricks.

So I bid 5♠. It seems like I am signing off in 5♠ but I can NEVER want to play in ♠. Neither of us have bid ♠! That CAN'T be the place to play.

Partner should get tipped off and bid 5NT.

I will "Pass".

So our auction would be:

N	E	S	W
1♦	Pass	1♥	Pass
3♦	Pass	4NT	Pass
5♣	Pass	5♠	Pass
5NT	Pass	Pass	Pass

P.S.
Turned out Partner overvalued his 14 HCP with no Aces because he had seven ♦.

We made 5NT.

Responder must decide

Playing matchpoints. You are vulnerable and the Opponents are not vulnerable.

Here is your hand:
♠KQ9
♥KQT863
♦KT
♣KJ

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. The Opponents do not bid. You decide to bid 1♥. You are very strong for this bid but it IS a forcing bid. Partner MUST bid again.

Over 1♥ Partner bids 4♥.

We decided last post that Partner is showing a VERY strong hand and that you were going to bid 4NT. This is Blackwood and asks Partner just how many Aces they have.

Partner bids 5♣. You play just regular plain old-fashioned Blackwood.

What does Partner have? What is your call?

Show Answer

Partner has either zero or all four Aces. I think from the auction we can agree they CAN'T have zero Aces. That means they have ALL FOUR!

Count your winners.

You have three ♠ winners since Partner has the A♠.

You have six ♥ winners since Partner has the A♥.

You have two ♦ winners since Partner has the A♦.

You have two ♣ winners since Partner has the A♣.

That's 13 tricks. You should have bid 7NT right away. I hope you didn't bother wasting people's time with 5NT. That asks for Kings but YOU have them all!

I hope no one wimped out on me!

In case you are curious Partner had:
♠A52
♥AJ74
♦A43
♣AQ3

Do we DARE? We do! But HOW?

Here is your hand:

♠A9
♥AKQT763
♦-
♣A653

The Opponents are silent during your auction. Partner opens the bidding 1♦. You respond 1♥. Partner rebids 2♣. It is your turn to bid. What is your call?

Hint: Think very carefully as to what cards you REALLY need from Partner to make a slam.

(I hope you didn't think "the Ace of ♦!" -- Sure it would be nice to have but do you REALLY need it?"

Since I'm in an extremely good mood today I will give you links. Some you may need. Some you will not. All contain useful information and one actually contains the answer!

Blackwood:
Lesson: Blackwood -- An Introduction
Lesson: Blackwood -- To Bid or Not to Bid
Lesson: Blackwood or Quantitative?
Lesson: Blackwood -- Asking for Kings
Lesson: Blackwood -- A Summary

Gerber:
Lesson: Gerber - An Introduction
Lesson: Gerber - To Bid or Not to Bid?
Lesson: Gerber or 4NT Quantitative?
Lesson: Gerber -- Asking for Kings
Lesson: Gerber -- A Summary

Trump Suit Asks:
Lesson: Grand Slam Force
Lesson: Trump Suit Quality - 5 of the Major
Lesson: Trump Suit Quality Exercises


Show Answer

What cards do you actually care about?

The only two cards you need from Partner's hand are the K♣ and the Q♣.

Don't believe me? Think about this hand:
♠432
♥4
♦65432
♣KQ42

Now OBVIOUSLY Partner would not open the bidding with the above hand. But what if they did? Here are the two hands together. If trump split 3-2 how many tricks will you take with ♣ as trump?

♠A9
♥AKQT763
♦-
♣A653

♠432
♥4
♦65432
♣KQ42

Baring incredibly bad breaks you should be able to take ALL the tricks. Even with that pathetic hand I gave you. That's because the ONLY two cards you need are the K♣ and the Q♣.

How do you ask? Over 2♠ bid 5NT. Grand Slam Force. Partner will then bid 7♠. (Assuming Partner knows what is going on...)

To Bid or Not to Bid Blackwood

Here is your hand:
♠J
♥AQ932
♦AJ72
♣AJ4

Your Partner opens the bidding 1♠. Your RHO (Right Hand Opponent) says "Pass". You decide to bid 2♥. This bid is perfect! It shows 10 HCP (High Card Points) and at least five ♥. The Opponents Pass throughout the bidding. Partner responds 4♥. Partner has extras! What do you do?

Well at the supervised I was called over. "Should I ask for Aces?" they inquire.

"Are you going to bid 7♥ if Partner has one Ace?" I ask.

"NO!!!"

"Are you going to stop in 5♥ if Partner does not have any Aces?" I ask.

They think a little on this. "I have a really nice hand. I think we should be in a slam!"

"So, are you going to stop in 5♥ if Partner does not have any Aces?" I persist. (Notice how they did not answer my question at all the first time...)

"No. I'm going to bid 6♥ anyhow. I should, shouldn't I? I have enough for a slam, don't I?" (Here I sense they want a little reassurance. Which I don't give them. Instead I counter with some logic.)

"If you are always going to bid 6♥ and never going to bid 7♥ then why are you asking for Aces?"

AHHHHH! That makes sense!

You ONLY ever ask for Aces if the partnership could be off two Aces and you will stop at the 5 level OR the partnership is interested in bidding a grand slam. If you are always going to be in 6 and never in 7 then why ask for Aces? This does not help AT ALL. It just wastes everyone's time and allows the opponents to stick in a lead directing double.

P.S. Slam bid and made. Nice. This hand matches the one from the past 2 days.

WARNING! The following post talks about BLACKWOOD. Blackwood is a bid used by more experienced players. If you are a new player do NOT bother reading this post. When you have played a bit more and know a bit more you can learn Blackwood. For now, do not bother.

Blackwood -- A Summary

For an introduction on Blackwood please read the following posts first:
Blackwood -- An Introduction
Blackwood -- To Bid or Not to Bid
Blackwood or Quantitative?
Blackwood -- Asking for Kings

Blackwood is a convention bridge players use to ask their Partner how many Aces they hold after the partnership has agreed upon a suit or, if no suit has been agreed upon, the last bid was not any number of natural NTs. In these auctions, a bid of 4NT asks their Partner how many Aces they hold. Bridge players call this 4NT bid Blackwood.

• Blackwood can be bid after an opening bid of any suit
• Blackwood can be bid after Partner supports your Opening suit
• Blackwood can be bid after Partner opens and supports your suit
• Blackwood can be bid after Partner opens and rebids a suit
• Blackwood can be bid after Partner made an Overcall of a suit
• Blackwood can be bid after Partner supports your Overcall of a suit

The key here is a SUIT has been bid. Not NT.

What are the responses to Blackwood?

5♣	Partner I have either zero or all four Aces
5♦	Partner I have one Ace
5♥	Partner I have two Aces
5♠	Partner I have three Aces

Since you do not know which Aces Partner has you should NOT bid Blackwood if you have a void in a suit OR a useless doubleton.

Many players think you MUST ask for Aces in order to bid a slam. This is not true. You only ask for Aces if you need to know how many Aces Partner has in their hand. If you do NOT need to know that information then don't ask for it.

If you KNOW you want to be at the 6 level and not at the 7 level then do NOT ask for Aces. Just bid at the 6 level. Asking for Aces only assures the Partnership they are not off 2 Aces so can safely bid to the 6 level OR is looking for the 7 level if the Partnership holds all the right cards.

Once the Partnership has gone through Blackwood to ask their Partner for the number of Aces they hold, they can continue bidding Blackwood if they want to know the number of Kings. In order to do this the Partnership MUST hold ALL the Aces. You do not ask Partner for the number of Kings they hold if the partnership is missing an Ace. If you cannot bid a small slam after going through Blackwood and finding out the Partnership is off one Ace then you shouldn't have bid Blackwood in the first place.

In order to ask for Kings you need to go through asking for Aces first. A leap to 5NT without bidding 4NT first is NOT asking for Kings. So even if you hold all 4 Aces in your hand and want to go straight to asking Partner for the number of Kings they hold you cannot. You must go through 4NT Blackwood and ask for the number of Aces before you then ask for the number of Kings.

In order to ask for Kings you should be interested in a GRAND. Partner is allowed to ignore your question and leap to the 7 level if they have a hand that can take all the tricks knowing the partnership has all the Aces.

After getting a response from bidding 4NT, a bid of 5NT is now asking for the number of KINGS Partner holds. The responses are:

6♣	Partner I have zero Kings
6♦	Partner I have one King
6♥	Partner I have two Kings
6♠	Partner I have three Kings
6NT	Partner I have all four Kings

WARNING! The following post talks about BLACKWOOD. Blackwood is a bid used by more experienced players. If you are a new player do NOT bother reading this post. When you have played a bit more and know a bit more you can learn Blackwood. For now, do not bother.

Blackwood -- Asking for Kings

For an introduction on Blackwood please read the following posts first:
Blackwood -- An Introduction
Blackwood -- To Bid or Not to Bid

Once the Partnership has gone through Blackwood to ask their Partner for the number of Aces they hold, they can continue bidding Blackwood if they want to know the number of Kings. In order to do this the Partnership MUST hold ALL the Aces. You do not ask Partner for the number of Kings they hold if you are missing an Ace. If you cannot bid a small slam after going through Blackwood and finding out the Partnership is off one Ace then you shouldn't have bid Blackwood in the first place.

In order to ask for Kings you should be interested in a GRAND. Partner is allowed to ignore your question and leap to the 7 level if they have a hand that can take all the tricks knowing the partnership has all the Aces.

After getting a response from bidding 4NT, a bid of 5NT is now asking for the number of KINGS Partner holds. The responses are:

6♣	Partner I have zero Kings
6♦	Partner I have one King
6♥	Partner I have two Kings
6♠	Partner I have three Kings
6NT	Partner I have all four Kings

Note: Some people play 6♣ shows zero or four Kings. I think that is a way to keep these bids consistent and make life a little easier for some. Blackwood is not easy. I like the old school approach of bidding 6NT to show all four Kings because if the Partnership cannot play in 6NT or a grand knowing that I have all four Kings then Partner should not have asked for the number of Kings I have and there will be no mercy.

Let's practice your responses to Blackwood asking for Kings. On the following hands you opened the bidding 1♣. Partner responded 1♥. You responded with 4♥ showing about 20 points with four trump. Partner then bid 4NT asking for the number of Aces you have in your hand. You gave your answer and then Partner bids more Blackwood. They bid 5NT guaranteeing all the Aces and asking for the number of Kings you hold. What will you bid now and what are you telling Partner with your bid?

You	Partner
1♣	1♥
4♥	4NT
(Answer to number of Aces)	5NT
?

Hand 1

♠AJ4
♥AKQ9
♦8
♣K8752



Hand 2

♠QJ
♥AKQ2
♦K9
♣KQT42



Hand 3

♠AT9
♥AKQ6
♦63
♣AQT2



Hand 4

♠KT5
♥AKT4
♦A
♣AQ854



Hand 5

♠K85
♥KQ96
♦A
♣AQT85



Hand 6

♠AJT2
♥AQJT
♦8
♣AJT8



Hand 7

♠AK5
♥K875
♦5
♣AKQ85



Hand 8

♠AK
♥KQ87
♦5
♣AKQ85



Hand 9

♠76
♥AKJT
♦A52
♣AQJ8



Hand 10

♠AK
♥AT85
♦KQ
♣KJ863



Hand 11

♠AK7
♥AK64
♦63
♣KQ98



Hand 12

♠AK7
♥KQT8
♦A8
♣QJ98



Hand 13

♠AK7
♥KT94
♦A
♣KQ953



Hand 14

♠AK9
♥KQT8
♦96
♣AQJ3



Hand 15

♠Q52
♥AQJ9
♦A7
♣AQT5



Hand 16

♠AK
♥KQ93
♦76
♣AKT98



Hand 17

♠AKQ5
♥KQ92
♦6
♣AQT9



Hand 18

♠KT2
♥AKT7
♦A
♣A9764



Hand 19

♠8
♥AKJ4
♦KQJ
♣AJT52



Hand 20

♠KJ
♥QJ52
♦AQ7
♣AQ74



Hand 21

♠AQ
♥K754
♦AJ3
♣AJ95



Hand 22

♠K6
♥K942
♦K4
♣AKQT3



Hand 23

♠9
♥KQ54
♦9
♣AKQ9852



Hand 24

♠A5
♥AQ95
♦KJ
♣AJ983



Hand 25

♠3
♥AKJ2
♦KQ3
♣AJ762



Hand 26

♠KQ64
♥AKQ7
♦K
♣K732



Hand 27

♠A3
♥AJT5
♦2
♣AKQ972



Hand 28

♠K9
♥AK72
♦K8
♣AJ742



Hand 29

♠A
♥AK97
♦A83
♣KQ852



Hand 30

♠8
♥AT98
♦A
♣AQJ8754



Hand 31

♠AK
♥AKQ2
♦65
♣K9852

Blackwood or Quantitative?

Now that you have learned Blackwood let's see if you can tell the difference between 4NT Blackwood and 4NT Quantitative.

An easy way to remember is that 4NT Quantitative occurs after the FIRST bid by the Partnership was some number of NT or the LAST bid by the Partnership was some number of NT. This is not always true but for the most part is. Some of these are tricky! Think carefully as to what each bid means before you answer.

Brush up on 4NT Blackwood with this post:
Blackwood -- An Introduction

Brush up on 4NT Quantitative with these posts:
Bidding - Responding to 1NT with a Balanced Hand
Gerber or 4NT Quantitative?

On each of the following auctions one person has bid 4NT. Is this 4NT bid Blackwood or Quantitative and what is the person asking with the bid?

Opener	Responder
1♣	4NT

Opener	Responder
1NT	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♠
4♠	4NT

Opener	Responder
2NT	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♠
3♠	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	2NT
4NT

Opener	Responder
1♦	1♥
1NT	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♠
2♠	4NT

Opener	Responder
1NT	2♣
2♥	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♥
1♠	4♠
4NT

Opener	Responder
1NT	2♥
2♠	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♥	3♥
4NT

Opener	Responder
1NT	2♥
2♠	4♣
4♥	4NT

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♥
1NT	3♦
3♥	4NT

Opener (Dealer)	Overcaller	Responder	Advancer
1♠	2♥	Pass	4NT

Blackwood -- To Bid or Not to Bid

WARNING! The following post talks about BLACKWOOD. Blackwood is a bid used by more experienced players. If you are a new player do NOT bother reading this post. When you have played a bit more and know a bit more you can learn Blackwood. For now, do not bother.

Blackwood

Please read the previous post to get a little information on Blackwood:
Blackwood -- An Introduction

Why would we bid Blackwood?

Say my Partner opened the bidding 1♣ and I hold this hand:
♠KQJ86
♥2
♦KQT96
♣AK

I respond 1♠ (with two 5 card suits bid the higher ranking suit first always) and Partner raises me to 2♠.

What do I need from Partner in order to take ALL the tricks? Basically just three Aces. That's it. I don't actually care how many points Partner has -- I just want to know how many Aces Partner has. If Partner has three Aces we should be able to take 13 tricks if ♠ are trump. With two Aces we should be able to take 12 tricks with ♠ are trump. However if Partner only has 1 Ace we don't want to be in a slam.

Hand A	Hand B	Hand C
♠A742 ♥A864 ♦A8 ♣J75	♠A742 ♥AKQ6 ♦84 ♣J75	♠A742 ♥KQJ4 ♦84 ♣QJ5
Partner has 3 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 7♠. We should be able to take 13 tricks with ♠ as trump.	Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 6♠. We should be able to take 12 tricks with ♠ as trump.	Partner has 1 Ace. With this hand we want to play in only 5♠. There is no point in being any higher. The Opponents can take two Aces right away.

What about if Partner doesn't have ANY Aces? Wouldn't we go down if we bid that high?

Yes, if Partner doesn't have any Aces we cannot bid past the 4 level. However it is mathematically impossible for Partner to not have any Aces when we hold the hand we have. Construct the WORST hand possible for Partner. If they have 13 (or even 12) HCP (which is their minimum to open the bidding) then they have an Ace.

Bidding Blackwood tells you the NUMBER of Aces Partner has in their hand. It does not tell you which Aces they are. Since you do not know which Aces Partner has you should NOT bid Blackwood if you have a VOID in a suit.

Let's take this hand:
♠KQT9872
♥A
♦KQJ95
♣

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. You respond 1♠. Partner rebids 2♠. They are showing a fit for you with about 13-16 points. Partner is allowed to count Dummy points because they know they have a fit and they know they are going to be Dummy. You have a very nice hand and want to know if Partner has the A♠ and the A♦. If you bid Blackwood on this hand and Partner shows you 2 Aces which Aces are they? Partner could hold:

Hand D	Hand E	Hand F
♠AJ65 ♥K982 ♦A2 ♣J83	♠AJ65 ♥K86 ♦62 ♣AJ86	♠J653 ♥K8 ♦A2 ♣AJ942
Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 7♠.	Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 6♠. The Opponents can take their A♦!	Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 6♠. The Opponents can take their A♠!

So bidding Blackwood does not help us here. For the same reason you should NOT bid Blackwood with a useless doubleton. A useless doubleton means that there are two cards in the suit and neither of the cards are the Ace or King of the suit.

Let's take this hand:
♠KQT9872
♥43
♦AKQ9
♣

Partner opens the bidding 1♣. You respond 1♠. Partner rebids 3♠. They are showing a fit for you with about 17-18 points. Partner is allowed to count Dummy points because they know they have a fit and they know they are going to be Dummy. You have a very nice hand and want to know if Partner has the A♠, the A♥ and the K♥. If you bid Blackwood on this hand and Partner shows you 2 Aces which Aces are they? Partner could hold:

Hand G	Hand H	Hand I
♠AJ65 ♥QJ98 ♦2 ♣AK83	♠AJ65 ♥A862 ♦2 ♣KQJ8	♠J653 ♥AJ ♦2 ♣AKJ94
Partner has 2 Aces but we are still off the first 2 ♥ tricks. With this hand we want to play in 5♠.	Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 6♠. We might have to lose a ♥ trick.	Partner has 2 Aces. With this hand we want to play in 6♠. The Opponents can take their A♠ but that is it!

So again there is no point in bidding Blackwood on that hand because you still might not know what level to play at!

Let's take a look at a few hands. On all these hands Partner opened the bidding 1♦. You responded 1♠. Partner rebid 4♠ which shows a VERY big hand! About 20 points. After all you only showed 6 points when you responded and Partner put you into game. So it's up to you. What do you do? Pass? Bid 4NT (Blackwood) to find out how many Aces Partner has? Just bid 6♠? 7♠?

State the reason(s) why you bid what you bid.

Opener	Responder (YOU!)
1♦	1♠
4♠	???

Hand 1

♠QT9653
♥5
♦Q94
♣KT7



Hand 2

♠AQ642
♥K
♦QT82
♣KT4



Hand 3

♠AKQT76
♥74
♦K64
♣Q6



Hand 4

♠AQ873
♥7
♦A6
♣KQJT2



Hand 5

♠A87653
♥A
♦873
♣AQ6



Hand 6

♠KJ732
♥K94
♦KT8
♣K2



Hand 7

♠KQ76
♥KQT
♦J97
♣T86



Hand 8

♠AK872
♥K3
♦AK6
♣KJ5



Hand 9

♠AJ9852
♥Q986
♦6
♣T3



Hand 10

♠K8764
♥8
♦KQ87
♣A53



Hand 11

♠8754
♥J75
♦T
♣KQJ86



Hand 12

♠AT95
♥AK
♦K753
♣643



Hand 13

♠KQT875
♥6
♦J
♣AKQT5



Hand 14

♠KQT92
♥AKQ8
♦9
♣AQ6



Hand 15

♠QJT2
♥QT5
♦AKQ9
♣T5



Hand 16

♠K754
♥Q83
♦T763
♣K9



Hand 17

♠KJT93
♥AK3
♦T9864
♣



Hand 18

♠AK964
♥AK9
♦Q7
♣A86



Hand 19

♠KQT95
♥AKQ92
♦4
♣A9



Hand 20

♠KQJ75
♥7
♦A54
♣A854



Hand 21

♠KQJ7
♥AJ2
♦AQT93
♣6



Hand 22

♠A853
♥J64
♦63
♣QT92

Blackwood -- An Introduction

WARNING! The following post talks about BLACKWOOD. Blackwood is a bid used by more experienced players. If you are a new player do NOT bother reading this post. When you have played a bit more and know a bit more you can learn Blackwood. For now, do not bother.

Blackwood

Blackwood is a convention bridge players use to ask their Partner how many Aces they hold after the partnership has agreed upon a suit or, if no suit has been agreed upon, the last bid was not any number of natural NTs. In these auctions, a bid of 4NT asks their Partner how many Aces they hold. Bridge players call this 4NT bid Blackwood.

This could be bid after Partner supports your Opening suit:

Opener	Responder
1♥	3♥
4NT

This is BLACKWOOD. Opener, by bidding 4NT, is asking Responder to tell them how many Aces they have in their hand.

This could be bid after an opening bid of any suit:

Opener	Responder
1♣	4NT

This is BLACKWOOD. Responder, by bidding 4NT, is asking the 1♣ Opener to tell them how many Aces they have in their hand.

This could be bid after Partner opens and supports your suit:

Opener	Responder
1♣	1♠
2♠ (or 3♠ or even 4♠)	4NT

This is BLACKWOOD. Responder, by bidding 4NT, is asking the 1♣ Opener to tell them how many Aces they have in their hand.

This can be bid after Partner made an OVERCALL:

Opener (Dealer)	Overcaller	Responder	Advancer
1♠	2♥	Pass	4NT

This is BLACKWOOD. Advancer, by bidding 4NT, is asking the 2♥ Overcaller to tell them how many Aces they have in their hand.

What are the responses to Blackwood?

5♣	Partner I have either zero or all four Aces
5♦	Partner I have one Ace
5♥	Partner I have two Aces
5♠	Partner I have three Aces

Do you need to memorize this chart?

Not really. After the 4NT bid the first possible response you would make is for the worst possible case. Zero Aces. So the first possible bid after 4NT is 5♣. The second possible bid you would make after 4NT is the second worst response. So 5♦ would be the second worst response which is only 1 Ace. And so on. We need to group the worst response (zero Aces) with the best response (four Aces) because the Blackwood bidder should be able to tell which one Partner has.

There is quite a bit more to Blackwood that I will get to in the next few days. For now practice your responses to Blackwood.

On the following hands Partner opened the bidding 1♠. You bid 3♠ which shows about 11 or 12 points with four trump. Partner now bid 4NT which we now know is asking for the number of Aces we have in our hand. What is your response on each of the hands and what are you telling Partner with your bid?

Opener	Responder
1♠	3♠
4NT	???

Hand 1

♠JT76
♥AJ7
♦4
♣Q8543



Hand 2

♠KJT2
♥QJ96
♦6
♣Q863



Hand 3

♠AJ94
♥Q84
♦32
♣A972



Hand 4

♠8532
♥KQ3
♦AK6
♣T76



Hand 5

♠9742
♥864
♦AQ63
♣A3



Hand 6

♠KT98
♥AT653
♦K5
♣64



Hand 7

♠T874
♥A8
♦KQ62
♣QT9



Hand 8

♠AT86
♥AQT2
♦T75
♣J4



Hand 9

♠KT98
♥KQT6
♦K52
♣64