We bid Gerber and Blackwood NOT to get into slam, BUT TO STAY OUT OF IT!
YOU MUST NOT BID BLACKWOOD OR GERBER UNLESS YOU ALREADY KNOW YOU HAVE THE POINT COUNT FOR SLAM.
Goren has told us we need at least 33 for a small slam and 37 for a grand slam. The reason he chose them was because of the four points given for an ace. If you are off two aces, you CAN NOT HAVE 33 HCPs, or 37 off one ace. But you have learned is that you sometimes don't need that ace if you have a void. So in the case of TRUMP SLAMS, DISTRIBUTION WILL COUNT HEAVILY, but YOU WILL STILL NEED 33 POINTS EVEN WITH THE DIST. So if you bid Blackwood, you will have 33 points with dist. If you bid Gerber, you will have 33 HCP.
YOU WILL NOT BID EITHER WITHOUT KNOWING YOU HAVE THAT MANY POINTS, YOU WILL NOT BID BLACKWOOD IF YOU INTEND GOING TO SLAM IN NOTRUMP, AND YOU WILL NOT BID GERBER IF YOU INTEND GOING TO SLAM IN TRUMP! THESE TWO BIDS WILL TELL your partner what your intent is,
there is one tiny exception to that last point -- and that is the use of the two conventions with Flannery.
Example 1: two Diamonds by partner...pass...FOUR NOTRUMP BY YOU SAYS:
"partner I am intending to go to slam in spades"
Example 2: two diamonds by partner…pass...FOUR CLUBS BY YOU (GERBER) SAYS: "PARTNER, I AM INTENDING TO GO TO SLAM IN HEARTS"
This is the only exception to the rule that you bid Gerber only with the intent of a slam in NOTRUMP. We will be bidding Gerber ANYTIME WE THINK WE HAVE A SLAM IN NOTRUMP. Gerber is to be bid only directly over notrump. We will be playing the ITALIAN VERSIONS OF BOTH BLACKWOOD AND GERBER CALLED Roman
On your Convention Card write: Roman Blackwood and Roman Gerber.
The “Roman” means that neither bid is to show only aces –
but both aces and the king of the "key suit.” So there are FIVE KEY CARDS:
FOUR ACES AND THE KING OF THE KEY SUIT.
THE RULE FOR KNOWING THE KEY SUIT IS EASY:
Example 1:
1 heart by you...pass...two notrump by partner (Jacoby)…pass…FOUR NOTRUMP BY YOU. YOU HAVE JUST BID ROMAN BLACKWOOD WITH THE KEY SUIT of HEARTS (THE AGREED ON TRUMP). Your use of Blackwood says: Partner I am intending to bid slam in a trump: Hearts (and he is telling partner he has king of hearts).
Note: One heart ...two notrump shows good heart support and asks for shortness. Jacoby guarantees game in the Opened Major.
Example 2.
1 heart by you...pass...two CLUBS BY PARTNER...pass.....FOUR CLUBS BY YOU SAYS: PARTNER I HAVE JUST BID ROMAN GERBER INTENDING TO GO TO SLAM IN NOTRUMP AND THE KEY SUIT IS CLUBS, THE LAST SUIT BID
EXAMPLE 3:
1 HEART...PASS...1 SPADE...PASS...FOUR NOTRUMP...
FOUR NOTRUMP SAYS: I intend to go to slam in a trump, and the key suit is spades, since it was the last suit bid, and we have not agreed on a trump. Note that the key suit is not necessarily trump because you will want to know about the king (and perhaps the queen) of that suit, not the trump suit.
Example 4:
1 notrump by partner...FOUR CLUBS BY YOU SAYS: Partner it is
my intent to go to slam in NOTRUMP, AND THERE IS NO KEY SUIT. PARTNER IS
BEING ASKED ABOUT FIVE KEY CARDS, THE FOUR ACES AND THE KING OF THE KEY SUIT,
SO ALL OF THE RESPONSES HAVE TO SURROUND THAT FACT.
IN ROMAN BLACKWOOD, YOU WOULD NEVER BID FOUR NOTRUMP WITHOUT HOLDING AT LEAST ONE OF THE KEY CARDS YOURSELF, so THE RESPONSES WILL ONLY SHOW 0- 4 KEY CARDS.
NOW NOTE THOSE last two. With two key cards: two aces or an ace and the king of the key suit, you CAN ALSO TALK ABOUT THE QUEEN, but even if you bid five clubs or five diamonds, YOUR PARTNER CAN NOW ASK YOU ABOUT THE QUEEN BY SIMPLY BIDDING THE NEXT SUIT UP THE LINE!
1 HEART....PASS...2 NT (JACOBY showing hearts)...pass...4 NOTRUMP BLACKWOOD...pass...5 Clubs (showing 0 or three key cards)...pass...5 DIAMONDS ASKING "do you have the queen of hearts partner?"
First, the Blackwood convention is an asking convention. If PARTNER BIDS FOUR NOTRUMP ASKING, HE IS ASKING YOU HOW MANY key cards you have.
Responses are as follows:
FIVE CLUBS SAYS: "EITHER NONE OR THREE OF THE KEY CARDS"
FIVE DIAMONDS SAYS: "Either 1 or 4 of the key cards" - (that is why we call our version 0-3/14)
YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TELL which one it is BY LOOKING AT YOUR OWN HAND.
Example: Key suit is spades. Four notrump by you asks for key cards....pass...five diamonds by partner says : 1 or four key cards with spades key....pass...FIVE HEARTS BY YOU ASKS IF PARTNER HAS THE QUEEN OF spades.
EXAMPLE:
FOUR NOTRUMP (WITH DIAMONDS KEY)...PASS....FIVE CLUBS (saying 0 or three key cards)...pass...FIVE DIAMONDS (ASKING ABOUT THE QUEEN)...PASS..FIVE HEARTS SAYS: I don't have the queen. IF YOU HAVE THE QUEEN AND YOU ALSO HAVE OUTSIDE KINGS, YOU SHOW THIS BY JUMPING A SUIT FOR EACH OUTSIDE KING AND FOR THE QUEEN.
Example:
Spades are key: four notrump (Blackwood)...pass....five diamonds (1 or 4 key cards) ...pass..5 hearts (asking about the queen)...pass....six hearts says: partner I have the queen of the key suit- spades and I have two outside kings. Notice on this one: first the bidder jumped to six clubs to show the queen, then diamonds to show one outside king, and then hearts to show two of them making his bid six hearts. YOU CAN ONLY SHOW OUTSIDE KINGS IF YOU HAVE THE QUEEN. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE QUEEN YOU MUST ONLY SHOW THE DENIAL.
THERE IS A SECOND WAY OF ASKING FOR OUTSIDE KINGS BY
SKIPPING ASKING FOR THE QUEEN. JUST GO RIGHT TO FIVE NOTRUMP. THIS BID ALWAYS
JUSTS ASKS FOR KINGS OUTSIDE THE KEY SUIT.
FIVE NOTRUMP ASKS FOR OUTSIDE KINGS. AND THE RESPONSES:
Example
Key suit is spades: 1 spade by you...pass...two notrump by partner(Jacoby two notrump)...pass...FOUR NOTRUMP BYYOU (ROMAN BLACKWOOD)...PASS...5 DIAMONDS BY PARTNER SHOWING 1 OR FOUR KEY CARDS WITH THE KING OF SPADES KEY...PASS....FIVE NOTRUMP BY YOU ASKING FOR OUTSIDE K
KINGS...PASS...SIX DIAMONDS BY PARTNER SHOWING 1 OUTSIDE KING.....SIX SPADES BY YOU…ALL PASS
Roman Blackwood and Roman Gerber have to be alerted and
you simply say Roman Blackwood, Roman Gerber or Roman 03/14.
FOUR CLUBS IS ROMAN GERBER. AGAIN IT IS ASKING FOR THE
FIVE KEY CARDS IF THERE IS A KEY SUIT. THE KEY SUIT IS USUALLY THE LAST SUIT
BID.
EXAMPLE:
1 HEART BY YOU...TWO CLUBS BY PARTNER ...FOUR CLUBS BY YOU
IS GERBER. THE KEY SUIT WOULD BE CLUBS...THE LAST SUIT BID
HERE ARE THE RESPONSES:
TO ASK FOR OUTSIDE KINGS YOU MUST NOW BID FIVE CLUBS AND
THE RESPONSES ARE WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT:
Gerber does not provide as much bidding space as Blackwood, despite what most folks think. THAT IS WHY GERBER SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR SUIT SLAMS.
THE KEY TO KNOWING WHEN PARTNER IS BIDDING GERBER LIES IN TWO THINGS. FIRST, THE PYRAMID OF CONTRACTS, AND SECOND IN THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION.
Now lets ask some questions:
Now think about the pyramid. Would partner want to play in five clubs or three notrump? 3 NT. If partner had the chance to ask about diamonds, he could have bid three diamonds Western Q, but partner instead bid FOUR CLUBS, so all you have to is ask yourself if that is a natural raise in clubs or GERBER? Obviously it is Gerber.
EXAMPLES:
1 NOTRUMP BY YOU...PASS...two clubs (nonforcing Stayman) by partner...pass...two hearts by you...pass...four clubs by partner...Gerber. Hearts is the key suit, and partner indicates that he wants to go to slam in NT.
1 notrump by you….pass...two clubs by partner...pass...two hearts by you…pass...four notrump by partner…Blackwood. Hearts is key suit, and partner indicates that he probably wants to go to slam in hearts.