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My robot partner opened 1C and I responded 1S, and bid 2D, New Minor Forcing over his 1N rebid. After he confirmed a minimum hand with 3 card support, I went right to Roman Keycard Blackwood. 5D showed 1 or 4 keys (the robots play 3014), and 5H asked for the trump queen. 6D confirmed the queen and additionally promised the diamond king, whilst denying the club king. Now I bid 6H, asking the robot to bid a grand slam if holding the heart king. When the robot showed the heart king, I can count 13 tricks (6 spades, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds, and 3 clubs) so I bid 7N over his 7S.
Key points:
1) Know whether you are playing 3014 or 1430 Blackwood. There is a slight advantage to 1430, since when hearts are trump you can get the queen ask in under 5 of your suit when partner shows one keycard. Then again, I see lots of players who play 1430 but don’t know the queen ask, so they may as well play 3014.
2) Learn the queen ask, it is important and not that hard.
3) Play 5N as confirming all 5 keys and the trump queen and asking for specific kings. Often to bid a grand, you need to know which king, not how many.
4) When playing specific kings, and when responding affirmatively to the queen ask, responder bids his lowest king. Remember this phrase, “asker always asks, teller always tells”. When the robot showed me the diamond king, my 6H call said “if you have the heart king bid the grand”. Asker always asks.
5) To bid a grand slam, you should be able to count 13 tricks. On this deal, 13 tricks are always there unless spades are 4-0 with West holding all 4 outstanding trumps. 4-0 split is 10% and half that time or 5% with West. This is a 95% grand slam.
6) If you can count 13 tricks and have all 4 aces, bid 7N. Not only is it a better matchpoint score, it protects against an opponent ruffing the opening lead.
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