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Appendix 8 - Blackwood and Key Card Blackwood

BLACKWOOD
Once a trump suit has been agreed, a bid of 4NT asks how man\
aces partner holds. In

If the partnership is missing two aces, it can stop at the five level in the agreed trump suit. If only one ace is missing, a small slam  can be bid in the agreed trump suit. If the partnership holds all the aces and there is the possibility of a grand slam, a subsequent hid of 5NT asks about kings. The responses are:

KEY CARD BLACKWOOD




Once the trump suit is decided and the partnership is consideri 11 j» a slam, the focus turns to controls. To bid a small slam, the partnerslii
> wants some assurance that the defenders won't take the first I wo tricks. Control-showing, combined with Blackwood, helps resolvt this issue. However, there are other key cards in a trump slam While declarer may be able to get around a missing king in a si (It- suit-—by trumping the losers or discarding them—there's no get I inj', around the trump king. It's a key card. The trump queen will also be a valuable card to hold.