Friday, August 19, 2005 10:14 PM

Hand Evaluation - Exclusion Blackwood ( Duality )

PITBULLS:

Exclusion Blackwood is a new tool for us. Whenever you are thinking about Q bidding a void , think Exclusion Blackwood instead. The trouble with Q bidding a void is that partner thinks it is a king or an Ace so he does not discount terrible duplication of value so continues to make encouraging noises. My partner held this hand ♠Void ♥Q10987x ♦Jxx ♣AK10x , I opened 1NT. Partner transferred to hearts followed by bidding 3♣. I bid 3♥ confirming hearts as the trump suit. If I have nothing in spades , a grand slam in hearts is possible ♠xxxx ♥AKx ♦AK ♣Qxxx . If I have horrible duplication of value in spades , 6♥ would be very iffy. A void showing bid is exclusion Blackwood by definition , so 4♠ asks for Aces. Partner with ♠AKQx ♥Kxx ♦Axxx ♣xx shows two outside the spade suit (5♦) so you sign off in 5♥ . With the other hand , you get a 5♥ response so 6♥ is a baby bid.

My partner had a hand that “exclusion” would have kept us out of a bad slam. He held ♠AQ10xx ♥void ♦Axxx ♣AJxx , opened 1♠ getting a 1NT response from me. He bid a quiet 2♣ ( what else ?) but I showed a limit raise in spades by bidding 3♠ Given the parameter of the forcing NT where my maximum is in the 12 HCP range we are in the 26 HCP range. Having said that , if there is no duplication of value in hearts, a grand slam is possible ! ♠Kxx ♥xxxx ♦Kx ♣KQxx are the magical cards where 13 tricks are a possibility. Anyway partner decided to Q bid 4♣ to test the waters so I replied 4♦ which obviously says I like my hand on the auction. What next ? 5♥ exclusion by partner is a two way bid. It asks me to show controls omitting the heart Ace but it obviously tells me that he is void in hearts. I held the wrong hand for him as I held the heart Ace instead of the spade king making slam a bad contract. I respond no Aces so he now realizes that we are in the 26 HCP range with possible duplication . Accordingly he passes my 5♠ response ( zero aces ) . My hand was ♠Jxx ♥Axxx ♦Kx ♣K10xx but what if my hand was ♠Jxx ♥xxxx ♦KQx ♣KQxx . In light of his non forcing 2♣ bid and his slam aspirations , I would just bid 6♠ ! . There is no hand that he could hold that he bids 2♣ with a void in hearts that slam cannot make . He needs around 16 HCP outside the heart suit so “filling in the blanks” 6♠ must be cold ! Exclusion Blackwood is a two way bid on some auctions !!

2/1 auctions with a minor fit when showing a void in the majors is defined to be exclusion Blackwood . So you do not Q bid the void. You hold ♠void ♥xx ♦Axxx ♣AQJ10xx , partner opens a heart. You bid 2♣ , partner raises to 3♣ . Do not even think of Q bidding your spade void. Jump to 4♠ which is exclusion Blackwood for clubs ! . With minors agreed , you can get away with Exclusion Blackwood at the 4 level in the major. Here is another auction . I held ♠AKxxxx ♥void ♦Axxx ♣Kxx , partner opens 1♦. I respond a spade , partner bids 2♦. 4♥ to play is an impossible bid as you have a million other bids to show spades and hearts. 4♥ is exclusion KCB with diamonds as the agreed suit.

Opening 2♣ is where exclusion Blackwood could be a very frequent bid. If you have found a minor fit early, jump to 4 of a major is exclusion Blackwood. 2♣-P-3♣-P 4♦ is not splintering to the weak hand. Clubs are agreed and we have a void in diamonds with exclusion KCB . With a major fit after two clubs , a jump to the 5 level is an obvious Exclusion Blackwood bid.

2♣-P-2♦-P

2♠-P-3♠-P

5♣-P-?

Ok what about the sequences where exclusion KCB does not apply ? What about the strong distribution 6-5 hands ? ♠x ♥AKJxx ♦AQJ10xx ♣x you open 1♦ and partner bid 1♠. Do not be a kangaroo and jump to 4♥ . That is exclusion Blackwood with spade support !! Bid 2♥ as a quiet reverse or 3♥ as a jump shift reverse when you are weaker. What about the strong two suiters with the spade suit ? Here is where I think exclusion Blackwood is silly. Exclusion Blackwood forcing the auction to the 5 level when there is a threat of serious duplication of value is bad Bridge. A leap to the 4 level in spades is natural so not Exclusion Blackwood. ♠AKQxx ♥x ♦x ♣AKxxxx 1♣-P-1♥-P 4♠ as Exclusion Blackwood is too risky so will put the heart contract in jeopardy at the 5 level when severe duplication of value in spades in responder’s hand.

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