Blackwood with a void

I forget sometimes (OK, most of the time) just how little competitive experience Agent 99 has. Not that I'm so terrifically well-seasoned, but I have been playing a long time, and I've lost to some internationally renowned players. And I spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet making myself feel closer to famous players, too. So there's actually a fair amount of stuff that is familiar to me that is probably a complete blank to her.

One of the more basic blind-spots cropped up the other day. What do you say when partner wheels out Blackwood, and you have a void?

Apparently, Agent 99 had never met this little conundrum before. Her improvised response was to treat the void as a key-card, which rapidly generated a zero as I put her in seven, and the defence found their ace. We were having a bad game anyway, and just to rub it in, some other pair bid and made seven on the wrong opening lead.

But there is an accepted way to respond. I suppose I thought Agent 99 must know it, but there's no reason why anybody would, unless they've been shown it. The basic scheme is to answer 5NT holding 0 or 2 keycards and a void, or bid 6 of the void holding 1 or 3 keycards and a void. There are some caveats and wrinkles, of course (there always are).

First of all, showing a void when you hold 0 keycards is hardly ever done. The only time Eddie Kantar (the RKC authority these days) would countenance it is when partner already knows you have a terrible hand, and is bidding RKC anyway. The sort of example Kantar gives might involve a 2C opening and relatively weak responding sequence, or something.

Second, only show useful voids. A void in partner's first-bid suit when you have agreed his second suit as trumps is almost certainly not an asset, and not something to brag about.

Third, if your void is in spades and hearts are trumps, and you have an odd number of keycards, you can't jump to 6S because that takes you past 6H. Jump to 6H instead.

This takes care of hearts and spades as trumps, when 4NT is the RKC asking bid. For us, it gets a bit more confusing when a minor suit is trumps, and we use Redwood, but it works just as well. Instead of 5NT to start showing voids, if you count the steps you see you get to 5D when the asking bid was 4D, or 5H when the asking bid was 4H.

Let's say clubs are agreed, and 4D is bid as 1430. Now,
4H = 1 or 4
4S = 0 or 3
4NT = 2 without the QC
5C = 2 with the QC
5D = 2 with a void
5H = 1 or 3 with a void H
5S = 1 or 3 with a void S
5NT = 1 or 3 with a void D
6C = I can't remember all this crap

Similarly, when diamonds are trumps and 4H is 1430:
4S = 1 or 4
4NT = 0 or 3
5C = 2 without the QD
5D = 2 with the QD
5H = 2 with a void
5S = 1 or 3 with a void S
5NT = 1 or 3 with a void H
6C = 1 or 3 with a void C
6D = I can't remember all this crap

As you can see, 5NT has become a “spare” bid, and can be used to show a void in the suit immediately higher-ranking than trumps. All the other voids can be named explicitly when you have an odd number of keycards.