Exclusion Blackwood

Exclusion Blackwood (aka Voidwood) is a variation of Roman Keycard Blackwood. It may arise when a player wants to ask for key cards while holding a void. The convention was created by the late American world champion Bobby Goldman.

After a trump suit is agreed, jumping to another suit at the 4- or 5-level says "Partner, I have a void in this suit. I'm interested in slam, and I don't care if you hold the ace of this suit. Please show me how many key cards you hold excluding this ace."

For example:

Opener 1 4

Responder 3

Here, 4 shows a spade void. It asks partner to show key cards excluding the spade ace.

Another example, this time at the 5-level:

Opener 1 5

Responder 3

Opener's 5 bid shows a void in diamonds, and asks responder for key cards excluding the diamond ace.

Exclusion Blackwood uses step responses. The specific steps depend on whether the partnership employs 1430 RKC or 0314 RKC. If playing 1430, the responses are as follows.

Overcall	Meaning
1st step	1 or 4 keycards
2nd step	3 or 0 keycards
3rd step	2 keycards without the trump queen
4th step	2 keycards with the trump queen

If playing 0314 RKC, then the 1st and 2nd steps are simply flipped.

Examples of 1430 step responses:

Opener 1 4

Responder 3 4NT

4NT is the 1st step available, and therefore shows 1 or 4 key cards.

Opener 1 4

Responder 3 5

5 is the 3rd step available, so it shows 2 key cards without the trump queen.

After hearing partner's reply, it is possible to ask her for the trump queen. This is done by making the cheapest bid outside of the trump suit. For example:

Opener 1 4 5

Responder 3 4NT

Partner's 4NT showed 1 or 4 key cards. The 5 bid is the cheapest rebid outside the trump suit (clubs).

Partner's responses to the queen ask are the same as regular RKC.

Response	Meaning
Bidding the trump suit	No trump queen
5NT	The trump queen, but no side kings (the king of the excluded suit doesn't count)
Bidding any non-trump suit	The trump queen AND the king of that suit

The following examples assume a 2/1 game-forcing system with 1430 RKC.

	West				East
	A43				—
	AKQ932				JT8
	53				AKJ842
	87				AKQ3
	West 1 3 5 (3)		North   Pass Pass Pass		East   2 (1) 4 (2) 7		South 2 Pass All Pass

1. Game-forcing
2. Exclusion Blackwood
3. 2 key cards with the queen of trumps

	West				East
	AKT982				J65
	KQJ				A52
	AKQ5				97
	—				Q9532
	West 2 (1) 2 5 (3) 5 (5) 6		North   Pass Pass Pass Pass All Pass		East   2 (2) 3 5 (4) 5 (6)		South Pass Pass Pass Pass

1. Strong, artificial
2. Waiting
3. Exclusion Blackwood
4. 1 or 4 key cards
5. Do you have the queen of trumps?
6. No

Partnerships should discuss Exclusion Blackwood in competition. For example:

West 1 4

North   Pass

East   3

South 3

Is 4 simply a cuebid showing a 1st-round control? This warrants discussion.

Another possibility is that the opponents double or overcall the Exclusion Blackwood bid. In that case, response treatments like DEPO, DOPI and ROPI must be used.

An example of DEPO in action:

West 1 4

North   Pass 5

East   3

South Dbl

Over 5, responder's pass shows an odd number of keycards (1 or 3).

Lastly, it's worth agreeing whether to use Exclusion Blackwood in conjunction with cuebids or splinter bids. For example:

Opener 1 4

Responder 2

Is 4 a splinter? Since 5 could theoretically be used as Exclusion Blackwood, it may be possible to play both conventions. Again, this needs partnership agreement.