Blackwood : Bridge Online

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The Blackwood convention is used to investigate a slam after a trump suit has been agreed. It is not used after 1NT, 2NT or 3NT. In that case, you use Gerber.

The most important use for Blackwood is to determine when you should NOT bid slam, which is when you are missing 2 aces. Note that you should usually not use Blackwood unless you have one ace yourself.

4NT asks partner to show the number of Aces in his or her hand. 4NT is not a bid you would normally make in a natural sequence which makes it easy to remember that something funny is going on!

Blackwood 4NT - asking for Aces
5♣ = 0 Ace or 4 Aces
5♦ = 1 Ace
5♥ = 2 Aces
5♠ = 3 Aces.

Notice that the responses start from the lowest available bid. After hearing partner's repsonse you will normally now be in a position to decide whether or not to bid slam.

	♠ AK98
	♥ 2
	♦ KJ5
	♣ AKJ98

South	West	North	East
1♣	P	1♦	P
1♠	P	4♠	P
4NT

This hand has good trumps, honor cards in partner's suit, an excellent side suit in clubs and a singleton. Slam is a definite prospect. There is a problem, however we could be missing 2 aces. You can check this by bidding 4NT.

South	West	North	East
1♣	P	1♦	P
1♠	P	4♠	P
4NT	P	5♣	P
5♠

Partner has no aces, so slam is hopeless and we will stop in 5♠. We must lose the ♥A and the ♦A.

South	West	North	East
1♣	P	1♦	P
1♠	P	4♠	P
4NT	P	5♦	P
6♠

Now we are missing only 1 ace, so I will bid 6♠. I feel pretty confident that we have the combined values for slam, given that we have such a great fit.

Asking for Kings

If your side has all the aces, you might like to know how many kings partner has. You should only ask for kings if you are interested in bidding a grand slam, where you need all 13 tricks. Bidding 5NT promises that no ace is missing.

Blackwood 5NT - asking for Kings
6♣ = 0 King or 4 Kings
6♦ = 1 Kings
6♥ = 2 Kings
6♠ = 3 Kings

That's all there is to it. Good luck with your slam bidding, and remember that Blackwood's usefulness lies in stopping you from bidding a slam missing 2 Aces.

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