SLAM BIDDING
SSS by Danny Kleinman
SAYC. Blackwood 4NT asks for the number of aces in coded replies: clubs = 0 or 4, diamonds = 1, hearts = 2, spades = 3. After receiving
a reply, the Blackwood bidder may bid 5NT, which confirms that the partnership has all the aces and asks for the number of kings using the same code for replies. In order to stop in 5NT, the Blackwood bidder must bid five of a suit
which can't possibly be trump, a demand for his partner to bid 5NT. Otherwise 5NT is the "Grand Slam Force," asking partner to bid seven of the agreed trump suit with two of the top three honors, six of the trump suit
with fewer than two. SSS. Forget about playing Blackwood, the most abused and disaster-prone convention in the history of bridge. As modern experts have come to recognize over the past few decades, Blackwood is too riddled with
defects to be effective. In 1991, Eddie Kantar, a great player and writer, wrote a whole book on the modern variation (Roman Key-Card Blackwood) used by experts. In 1993, he wrote a second edition, and in 1998, a third, each
expanded, revised, and differing sharply from its predecessor. First time I played with Eddie following, he messed up, forgetting what he had written on pages 26 and 27 of his third edition. If Eddie can't handle Blackwood,
neither can your partner. Not even if he reads my book on it, which I hope will obviate the need for Eddie to write a fourth edition. I won't go into detail about all the defects of Blackwood, and all the things that go wrong
when people use it. Basically, what is wrong with the convention (even its best variations) is that people love to take control, and Blackwood ("I ask, you answer, then I decide what to do") tempts them to do so even when
the answer to their question won't enable them to decide intelligently. When, over the years, partners have heard me say that I don't play Blackwood, they've usually asked (often rhetorically), "Then how can I know how many
aces you have?" Notice that they're concerned with finding out how many aces their partners have, not with telling their partners how many aces they have. This betrays their (no doubt unconscious) desire to take control.
However, if your partner asks, "Then how can you know how many aces I have," offer to play any version of Blackwood that he can explain to you The "Grand Slam
Force" (a misnomer) is much simpler, and I recommend it. However, 5NT does not ask specifically for two of the top three trumps. Rather, it asks partner to bid a grand slam with exceptionally good trumps FOR HIS PREVIOUS BIDS;
sometimes this means all three of the top trumps, sometimes only one. With only ordinary trumps, he usually bids six of the trump suit, but it can't hurt for him to "cue-bid" an SAYC: RULES FOR CUE BIDS. (1) Cue-bid suits your side hasn't bid previously before cue-bidding suits your side has bid previously. Cue-bid aces before cue-bidding voids. SSS. Some simple principles will suffice. Don't cue-bid voids until you've run out of other things to cue-bid (but if you take my advice, you'll often have shown your voids earlier with a void splinter). Until partner has bid
(or either player has cue-bid) the suit, only first-round controls in a suit may be cue-bid. After that, second-round controls become cue-biddable. To decide which suit to cue-bid first, a player must take into account three things:
However, in minor-suit auctions (only), stoppers, not
controls, must often be bid to seek the possible cheaper (and higher-scoring) 3NT game, and cue-bids will be presumed to show stoppers unless the cue-bidder bids again over his partner's 3NT to make his slam hopes clear.
fully (a much harder task than it may seem).
undisclosed feature of his hand if he
does so below six of the trump suit.
(2) Plan your cue bids.
(3) Cue-bid aces before kings. Occasionally, especially if partner knows you have a weak hand, you may cue-bid a second-round control before first-round control in the suit has been shown or denied.
(4) If partner cue-bids below game, cue-bid in return only with slammish values, but cooperate fully with his above-game and repeat cue bids.
(5) Don't cue-bid beyond five of the trump suit unless you're seeking a grand slam.
(6) If you know the right contract, forget (further) cue bids and bid it directly.
(7) To redouble a doubled cue bid shows second-round control; to pass is neutral.
(8) Avoid cue-bidding voids or singletons in partner's suit.
(1) In which suit would he most like to receive a return cue-bid from partner? This is usually the suit in which the king would be most valuable.
(2) Which cue bid makes it easiest for partner to cue-bid in reply? To
illustrate, suppose opener, having heard responder jump to 3C (forcing) over his 1C, has only two aces outside the club suit and wants to seek slam. If they are diamonds and hearts, it doesn't matter which he cue-bids first: it
will be equally easy for responder to cue-bid 3S in reply. If they are diamonds and spades, however, it is useful to cue-bid 3D first, facilitating responder's hoped-for 3H cue bid in reply.
(3) Which cue bid allows him to make
his next cue bid most economically?
To illustrate, suppose that in the same situation opener has the aces of hearts and spades but not the ace of diamonds. By cue-bidding 3S first, he facilitates his own 4H cue bid next turn,
after responder's hoped-for 4D cue bid in reply. This is more efficient than cue-bidding 3H first and 4S next, for it lets responder cue-bid the king of spades at the 4-level.
HAND VALUATION
SSS by Danny Kleinman