[PhilG007]

I wonder if other players have been frustrated like me when an opponent bids 4NT during an auction
to investigate a slam. You click on the players profile and you see one of two things.... either it says
"Blackwood" or it says nothing about the bid. So what version are they using? Are they using Blackwood at all???
Roman Keycard Blackwood or 0314 as it is known in shorthand has become widely popular since its invention by the legendary
Italian Blue Team in the 1970s. The tournament directors should make it a stipulation that all players
profiles should state clearly what version of Blackwood is being adopted.
It would save a great deal of time and discussion if this was done. What do others here think?

[steve2005]

the whole convention card not being filled out is a problem
a lot of people filling out the generic card are really bad.
the don't put jacoby transfers or 2N, iv minors, or what 1N - 3C/3D/3H/3S is
the put convention in the other convention box rather than the proper spot.

also pickup partners usually don't fill out a card so have syac by default as their card when their really playing 2/1

[Zelandakh]

Phil, if you want to know what a bid means then you could just try clicking on it and reading the response. Or you could click on one of the arrow keys to send a message to the relevant opponent if they speak a shared language. If you are playing against pick-up pairs then the lack of a profile tends to be much more of a handicap for them than for you. As an aside, this thread belongs in the BBO Discussion section rather than in General.

[barmar]

If it doesn't say "RKC", I generally assume they're playing standard, old fashioned Blackwood. Much of the time the responder will become dummy so I'll find out for sure when dummy comes down. If the likely declarer is responder, I might click on the response to ask what it means.

[Lovera]

PhilG007, on 2013-June-02, 06:42, said:

I wonder if other players have been frustrated like me when an opponent bids 4NT during an auction
to investigate a slam. You click on the players profile and you see one of two things.... either it says
"Blackwood" or it says nothing about the bid. So what version are they using? Are they using Blackwood at all???
Roman Keycard Blackwood or 0314 as it is known in shorthand has become widely popular since its invention by the legendary
Italian Blue Team in the 1970s. The tournament directors should make it a stipulation that all players
profiles should state clearly what version of Blackwood is being adopted.
It would save a great deal of time and discussion if this was done. What do others here think?

Salve. Secondo quanto dice io dovrei essere in regola perché ho indicato nel mio profilo Blackwood a rullo. Ora giocando peraltro con una italiana mi sono meravigliato quando mi ha chiesto "cos'e' la Blackwood a rullo ?" (ed è italiana..). Personalmente in altra occasione ho sperimentato la RKCB per la quale non ero molto convinto (infatti N.Ghelli in "Le convenzioni nel bridge " dice:..L'informazione relativa al K di atout e' certamente preziosa ma la sua assimilazione ad un A e'molto pericolosa quando lo slam non venga ddichiarato con un margine di sicurezza elevato: la convenzione [quinta variante] e' pertanto da sconsigliare (pag.151).

[barmar]

Lovera, I already wrote to you in a private message, but you haven't bothered (or don't know how) to read it.

When posting in forums outside the International Forum category, the only acceptable language is English. Italian posts should only be in Il forum per bridgisti italiani.

Thank you.

Here's how Google Translate translated Lovera's post:

Quote

Salve. According to what he says I should be in order because I have shown in my profile Blackwood roller. Now, however, playing with an Italian I was surprised when he asked me "What is' Blackwood roll?" (and it's Italian ..). Personally, on another occasion I experienced the RKCB for which I was not very convinced (in fact N.Ghelli "The conventions in the bridge," he says: .. The information on the K of trumps and 'certainly valuable, but its assimilation to an A it is very dangerous when the slam is not ddichiarato with a high margin of safety: the Convention [fifth variant] and 'therefore not recommended (page 151).

[barmar]

Ghelli's opinion is very outside the mainstream. Almost all bridge experts use some form of keycard Blackwood, and when there are polls about the most important conventions it is usually one of the top entries. The only complaint that's generally made about Blackwood (in any form) is that many players use it too much, because it's the only way they know to explore for slams -- they don't know how to cue bid controls and shortness properly before asking about aces and kings. So some suggest that it shouldn't be taught right away to beginners, because they'll abuse it. But for players who know what they're doing, RKCB is generally considered far superior to regular Blackwood.

It's true that the trump king is not equal to the trump ace -- if you're missing the king, you might be able to pick it up with a finesse, but there's no way to avoid losing to the trump ace. But you probably shouldn't be bidding slam if it requires a trump finesse. And don't forget that RKCB also allows you to find out about the trump Queen, which can't be done at all with regular Blackwood.

[Lovera]

There is a misunderstanding: the 5th variant considers K of trump like a A and the scale is : 5c : 0 or 4 A; 5d: 1 or 5 A; 5 h: 2A; 5 s: 3 A that is different from RKCB. In order the message for me i have received neither in Lovera mail noir in my private gmail then where may i read it ?Bye .

[barmar]

The message was sent as a forum private message. At the top of the forum, you should see a number in a circle to the right of your name. Click on that and it will pop up a list of private message conversations. Or click on your name and select "Messenger" from the menu.

[mycroft]

One of these days I'm going to play Roman Blackwood for a laugh (and to see how many people don't read). 0/3;1/4; 2CRO, if I remember correctly. No trump K.

I hate it as partner, because I'm playing pickup, they just say "RKC" or whatever in their profile, they throw up 4NT as if it's the only possible slam try, and unless I have two,...

As opponent, I get to ask. That's no issue.

[Lovera]

barmar, on 2014-April-08, 15:21, said:

The message was sent as a forum private message. At the top of the forum, you should see a number in a circle to the right of your name. Click on that and it will pop up a list of private message conversations. Or click on your name and select "Messenger" from the menu.

May you indicate me which forum is it, please ? I don't find this one ,thanks .

[barmar]

Lovera, on 2014-April-08, 16:20, said:

May you indicate me which forum is it, please ? I don't find this one ,thanks .

At the top right of the forum window, you should see something that looks like this:

Of course, it will say Lovera instead of barmar. Click on your name to pop up a menu, click on the number on the right to pop up a list of private message conversations.