You understand that in real life, the cases where the cards of each deal are stored are numbered. Each number corresponds to a vulnerability situation, which you can see by comparing the color of the stickers of your team and those of the opposing team (North and South, East and West).
Are the stickers green? You are non-vulnerable. Are they red? You are vulnerable. For example, here the North-South team is non-vulnerable and the East-West team is vulnerable (and the dealer is East):
Vulnerable means that the scores for games, slams and down tricks are higher. Non-vulnerable, the scores are the ones I gave you so far. For example, a vulnerable game won scores about 600 points (vs 400 non-vulnerable) and a small slam scores 1400 points (vs 1000 non-vulnerable). Look here all the scores, if you are interested.
This influences strategy. When you are non-vulnerable and they are vulnerable, you can dare to make slightly crazy bids: even if you are doubled, their game scores so many points that they will often prefer to bid higher. On the other hand, if you are vulnerable, beware: down tricks cost a fortune!
Two identical contracts, undoubled, each go down one trick. The first declarer is non-vulnerable, the second is vulnerable. Who pays the most?
And I will teach you one last very well-known bid before we part: Blackwood. Everyone plays it. It allows you to check that not too many key cards are missing when you want to play a slam in trump (Aces, the King of trump, the Queen of trump...).
4NT Blackwood
When a fit has been shown somewhere and you bid 4NT, you ask partner how many cards they have among the 4 Aces and the King of trump (these cards are called the key cards). The responses:
- 5: 0 or 3 key(s)
- 5: 1 or 4 key(s)
- 5: 2 or 5 keys without the Queen of trump
- 5: 2 or 5 keys with the Queen of trump
The trump is Hearts. You hold the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Clubs, the King of Hearts and the Queen of Hearts. How many key cards does this represent?
You have a fit in Hearts. On 4NT Blackwood, you hold exactly one key card and the Queen of Hearts. Which response do you choose?
Then you just have to count:
- To play a good small slam, you need at least 5 key cards or 4 key cards and the Queen of trump. Otherwise, the probabilities of winning it will not be in your favor.
- To play a good grand slam, you need not only the 5 key cards, but also the Queen of trump!
The mistake to avoid
No fit or very long suit expressed, no Blackwood. So in a sequence like 1NT – 4NT, 4NT is not Blackwood, it simply shows the hope of playing 6NT. On the other hand, if it goes 1 – 4 – 4NT, 4NT is Blackwood since a fit has been expressed.
After the auction in the table below, should you respond by indicating your key cards in this course?
| SouthS | WestW | NorthN | EastE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pass | 3 | Pass |
| 4NT | Pass |
At No Trump, partner plays the 3, dummy plays the 2. In third position, you hold QJ106. Which card do you choose to play an honor while respecting the correct signaling?
Now it's your turn to play on the following deals, and pay close attention to vulnerability: it can influence your decision!
Deal 1 Deal 2Your progress
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