Evening star., 1938-03-06
By Frank B. Lord.

~ RIDGE pointer: When leader
- wins the first trick in suit
declaration and dummy shows
- q void suit or q singleton 1t Is
generally advisable for the leader to
lay down trump in an effort to ex-
haust dummy of trumps as soon as
possible and prevent declarer from
r,lffing losing tricks from his own
hand.
WASHINGTON contract players
are being introduced to a new
bidding convention which has been
successfully used In some of the Mid
west bridge centers. It is known as
the Blackwood convention and origi-
mated in indianapolis. where it has
become very popular among the ex-
perts. It is modification of the
Four Five no-trump convention and
when properly applied is said to pro-
duce accurate results and to enable
a player to reach q slam contract
which would not be possible under the
Four-Five method, without assuming
a risk that might prove disastrous.
In its artificiality it Is similar to that
convention, but Is far better in en-
abling the bidder to locate aces and
kings If in partners hand.
The Blackwood convention provides
that where a player makes an orig
inal bid of one and his partner gives
him a jump IN that suit, if the orig
inal bid warrants it the bidder may
give four no-trump call in an ef-
fort to determine aces held by part
ner. Partners response is artificial.
If he has no aces he bids five clubs;
with one ace. five diamonds; with two
aces, five hearts; with three aces,
five spades; with all four aces, five
no-trump. After such response, If
less than five no-trump, the original
bidder himself bids five no-trump,
seeking to find kings. Partner makes
similar response except that it is
based upon the number of kings held.
Thus. partner bids six clubs holding
no kings, six diamonds holding one
king and so on. The user, however,
must be prepared to play at the six
level. If partner responds in a suit
higher than the suit originally bid.
Here is an example: North holds:
Spades, A. 7; hearts, A, 7, 4; dia-
monds, @, 8, 6, q clubs, X. S, 3, 2.
North opens with bid Of one dia-
xv,ith ut
South jumps to three diamonds. Un-
der the Four-Five convention North
would bid four no-trump, holding two
aces and the king of his bid suit and
South showing fit. South would
then respond with five no-trump, in
dicating the other two aces. North
would then bid six diamonds. II
North were assured, however, that his
partner also held an outside king
upon which he could discard his small
club, seven would be a lay-down.
Otherwise bidding seven would be a
gamble
Under the Blackwood convention
North would bid four no trump for a
slam try after his partner had jumped
his original bid to three diamonds.
North is prepared to play six diamonds
If South has two aces and responds
with five diamonds, which forces him
to the six level. South, in responding
to the four no trump bid, shows his
two aces by bidding five hearts. North
then goes to five no trump. seeking
information about partners kings. II
South has no kings he will sign on
with six clubs, and North is still able
to bid six diamonds, but South has the
club king. so he bids himself six dia-
monds. North then knows that a
grand slam can be made, and accord
ingly bids seven diamonds.
Players point out that the one dan
ger in the Blackwood convention Is
that some users are not prepared to
play higher contract after the part
ner has given a positive response that
forces the auction to higher level in
the trump suit originally named.
The Blackwood convention is not
published in any volume as part of
anybody's system of bidding, but
Washington bridge fans have met up
with it when playing with opponents
from other cities. notably those from
Midwest cities. Some of the local ex-
perts are disposed to give it a try
out, realizing, however, that there
must be perfect understanding of
the convention between the players.
Hands which afford an opportunity for
its use, as we'll as for the Four-Five no
trump convention are somewhat rare,