April 13, 2003

oneNT - Hilton Head Island Bridge News

New Bridge Club and Stakeholder Program
HHIBA members,

Praise be!!!! At last we have our building permit and are going full speed ahead on the Bridge Club modifications. April 27th is now golden for our opening Stakeholder game.
In addition, I would like to status everyone on how well the Stakeholder program is going. To date, we have receive $9500 in cash donations and over $1500 in material and goods donations from over 100 HHIBA members. This is a fantastic response with more coming in everyday.
We also remain very hopeful that the old Bridge Center space will actually be sublet by May 1, 2003 for the balance of the year. This very positive event when combined with the outstanding response to our Stakeholder program will allow us to meet all our financial obligations for the rest of the year.
The HHIBA Board would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the Association members who have given us an investment and the encouragement to succeed. We are well on our way to become the best Bridge Club in South Carolina.

Lee Sturm, President HHIBA

1st Game
It is my understanding that as soon as the new Bridge Club is permitted for occupancy all games will be transitioned into the new site … stay tuned.

Become a Club Director
With the opening of the new Bridge Club there will be many new games, as well as, a need for people to substitute for directors and run special games.  If you have an interest in joining the rewarding and high paying job of Club Director, District 6 is sponsoring a Club/Cruise Director's class in advance of the Memorial Day Richmond, VA Regional, taught by Donna Bowser. For additional information, see MABC web site http://www.mabcbridge.org/temp0526DirAd.htm

Roman Key Card and asking for the Queen of Trumps … by Marty Nathan
When asking for Aces using a Blackwood bid of 4NT, many partnerships use Roman Key Card (RKC) responses (or its 1430 variant) rather than regular Blackwood responses.  Treating the four Aces and the K of trumps as key cards, responder tells about keys card using the following responses:

Resp    RKC     1430   
5♣      0 or 3 Key Cards        1 or 4 Key Cards       
5♦      1 or 4 Key Cards        0 or 3 Key Cards       
5♥      2 or 5 w/o trump Q      2 or 5 w/o trump Q     
5♠      2 or 5 w/ trump Q       2 or 5 w/ trump Q      
 

Bidder can ask for Kings using 5NT, but sometime the Q of trumps can be the key card (no pun intended) in whether to go for the slam.  After 5♣ or 5♦, the 4NT bidder can ask partner if he has the Q by bidding the cheapest suit other than trumps.  Responder then bids:

No Q of trumps  Bid trump suit at lowest level 
Q and no outside K      Bid 5NT
Q and outside K (lower than agreed upon suit)   Bid cheapest K 
Q and outside K (higher than agreed upon suit)  Bid 6 of agreed suit   

Here’s an example.
        North
        Kx
        KQx
        KQ10x
        Xxxx
        South
        AQx
        A10xxx
        AJxx
        x
Dealer S (E/W Pass)

1♥      2♦     
3♦      3♥ (1) 
3♠ (2)  4♦ (3) 
4NT (4) 5♣ (5) 
5♦ (6)  5♠ (7) 
6♥             

Bidding commentary
(1) A delayed raise (usually) indicates 3-card support
(2) A cue bid since there is an agreed trump suit
(3) Also a cue bid.  It’s OK to cue bid a K below game.  This also denies the A♣ because we cue bid “up the line.”
(4) Since we’re playing 1430, this is asking for key cards or controls – the 4 aces and K of trumps
(5) 1 or 4 key cards
(6) South knows there is a key card missing. She can sign off in 5♥. But with her controls and the double fit, she knows there is a good chance of slam.  So she bids the cheapest suit to ask for the Q

(7) North bids 5♠ to show the Q and his cheapest K.
(8) S has no interest in the grand and signs off in 6♥. (South should thank North for the ♦Q rather than wasted club values. Otherwise, the slams hinges on the diamond finesse.)

Exchange the ♥Q for the ♥J. Now North bids 5♥ to deny the Q.  South passes and a marginal slam is avoided.

Queen asking is also good for grand slams. Just add the club A to South’s hand.

Note that if you were playing regular keycard rather than 1430, you could not ask for the Q.  N would respond 5♦ to show 1 keycard, and there is no space below 5♥ to ask for the Q. The theory is that the 4NT bidder is more likely to be interested in slam after hearing 1 or 4 than hearing 0 or 3.  Not always, but it’s more likely.

Bridge Links
HHI Bridge Center: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~hhibridge/
SC Bridge Unit 160: http://www.scbridge.com/
Mid-Atlantic Bridge:  http://www.mabcbridge.org/index.html
ACBL:  http://www.acbl.org/

oneNT is a an email publication on Hilton Head Island Bridge News and is published on a weekly basis or whenever the editor feels up to it … bridge news items or jokes should be sent to oneNT@mindspring.com (Please, no serious or patriotic theme emails - I get enough!  No chain emails that will cause the end of the world if I fail to forward them.  No emails on how to collect a fortune from Nigeria.  And while I may need it, no emails on how to buy Viagra or sex toys please.)

Remember Bridge should be fun!

Fred

Fred E. Ferguson
Hilton Head Island, SC
843.363.2538
fredferguson@mindspring.com