[Pa1ul]

LHO opened 2D. Passes to me. I bid takeout double with AJ10x spades, AKQJX hearts, AKxx clubs. Partner responded 2 spades. How do I find out if partner has either or both of the two spade honours? If I use Roman keycard, she may give one for A of diamonds, which is useless. We are not experts. In the end I crossed my fingers and bid 6, making.

[ArtK78]

5NT. Grand slam force. If partner has both the K and Q of spades, you are likely to have 13 tricks (assuming partner has 4 or more spades, you will have 4 spade tricks, two diamond ruffs in dummy, 2 clubs and 5 hearts).

It is rare for the right hand to come along for the Grand Slam Force. You found one.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

Voidwood:
5D! = Exclusion-RKC for ♠; Replies "exclude" the ♦ Ace :
..... - ??
........ 5H = 0/(3) excluding the ♦ Ace ( 1st step )
........ 5S = 1/(4)
........5NT = 2 - ♠ Q ( impossible on this hand )
........ 6C = 2 + ♠ Q ( ditto )

[aguahombre]

Those answers are the methods. However, on this hand where partner could easily have XXXX in spades, we cannot safely use either method.

[ArtK78]

aguahombre, on 2012-January-12, 12:28, said:

Those answers are the methods. However, on this hand where partner could easily have XXXX in spades, we cannot safely use either method.

If you are going to blast 6♠ anyway, as the OP did, you might as well use the GSF.

[aguahombre]

ArtK78, on 2012-January-12, 12:41, said:

If you are going to blast 6♠ anyway, as the OP did, you might as well use the GSF.

My point is that this hand after being tapped in diamonds is not safe at any level. I wasn't suggesting a blast to six.

[Zelandakh]

It might be worse than xxxx - have you never responded to a take-out double with a 3 card major before? I think the best course here is to make a forcing bid and find out more. If I was playing 3♥ as slammy with hearts and clubs then this looks a possible option; otherwise we can start with 3♦ and see what develops. If partner repeats their spades then I think we can try Exclusion next, if they show something in hearts then RKCB followed by a spade SSA should get the job done.

[Trinidad]

Hi!

Welcome to the forums. You were correct that Keycard Blackwood is not going to help because you don't know whether partner will show the ♦A or the ♠K. You can also be sure that partner will not have the ♦A and ♠K and ♠Q, otherwise partner would have bid a little more than just 2♠.

The important thing in bridge is to do well with the tools that you have, not to do well with the tools that you would like to have. If the Keycard Blackwood tool is not going to help you much, you must fall back on common sense and "gut feeling". Your gut told you to bid 6♠ and your gut was right.

If you would get to choose the tools, then a 5♦ bid as Exclusion Keycard Blackwood looks like it would be perfect: It asks for keycards outside diamonds. But if partner shows 0 keycards, what are you going to bid then? You don't have room to ask about the ♠Q. You will need to make the same decision, but meanwhile you have told the defenders who has the ♠K. (Remember that your own hand will be dummy.) They won't mind knowing that.

The only time when Exclusion Keycard Blackwood wins over simply blasting 6♠ is if partner has both the ♠KQ, because it lets you bid the grand. But in that case, a more mundain and old fashioned 5NT grand slam force works just as good. On top of that, for the cases where partner doesn't have the ♠KQ, it has the advantage that it doesn't tell the opponents that you have a diamond void. It doesn't even tell the opponents what declarer's trump holding is.

Conclusion: If you have the tools, you can use the grand slam force. Otherwise, just blast 6♠.

Rik

[mycroft]

Responding to partner's 2♠ with 3♦ should be a useful start. Even if he takes it as "stopper ask for NT", you will disabuse him of that notion later, and then you can make it clear you were slamming in spades.

Even

---

should let partner know that even with the "right" minimum, slam is an option - with ♠KQxx or KQxxx she should maybe pull out blackwood, or 5♠ or something.

Much as everyone hates hearing this, preempts work - they do make things harder.

[Free]

aguahombre, on 2012-January-12, 12:28, said:

Those answers are the methods. However, on this hand where partner could easily have XXXX in spades, we cannot safely use either method.

The question was "How do I find out if partner has either or both of the two spade honours?", not "How do I safely find out if partner has either or both of the two spade honours?"

If all you want to know is partner's ♠ honors, then exclusion RKC (5♦) seems like the best choice. However, you can also start with 3♦, after which you'll still have the opportunity to bid 5♦ anyway. If partner doesn't make any noise, you might as well sign off in 4♠.

[aguahombre]

O.K. I should have been clearer then. I should have said you don't find out about the high spades at this juncture of the auction. The choice of method later might be affected by what transpires before I want that information.