Raises and Slam Tools

Finding a fit is the most important thing in bidding. Once you’ve found it, the next question is how high to go, and that depends on how well your two hands fit together, not just on how many points you hold.

This module gives you a precise way to raise partner’s major, and the tools to judge and bid slams:

Jacoby 2NT, splinter bids and Bergen raises to show the size and shape of your support.
Drury for raises after you have passed.
Roman Keycard Blackwood (1430), control bids and Exclusion Blackwood for slam.

1. A complete set of major-suit raises

After partner opens 1♥ or 1♠, here’s a common modern structure (with the forcing 1NT from Module 1):

Response to 1♠	Support	Strength	Name
2♠	3+ cards	About 6–9	Simple raise
1NT, then 3♠	Exactly 3 cards	About 10–12	Three-card limit raise
3♣	4+ cards	About 7–10	Bergen: constructive raise
3♦	4+ cards	About 10–12	Bergen: limit raise
3♠	4+ cards	0–6	Pre-emptive raise
2NT	4+ cards	12+ (game force)	Jacoby 2NT
4♣ / 4♦ / 4♥	4+ cards	Game values, with a singleton or void in the suit bid	Splinter
4♠	5+ cards	Weak, distributional	Pre-emptive game raise

Over 1♥ the structure is the same, with 3♠, 4♣ and 4♦ as splinters.

Why four-card support matters. With nine or more trumps between you, you can compete higher and make more tricks (Module 4). So the system shows four-card support straight away.

2. Jacoby 2NT

1♠ – 2NT shows four or more spades and at least game-forcing values. Opener then describes their hand:

Opener’s rebid	Meaning
3♣ / 3♦ / 3♥	A singleton or void in that suit
4♣ / 4♦ / 4♥	A good five-card second suit
3♠	18+ points, no shortness: strong slam interest
3NT	About 15–17, balanced, no shortness
4♠	Minimum (about 12–14), no shortness: the weakest rebid

Using shortness to judge slam

Shortness is valuable only if partner has no wasted honours in that suit.

Partner opens 1♠ and you bid 2NT. Partner rebids 3♦, showing a singleton or void in diamonds.

Hand A:  ♠ K Q 8 3   ♥ A J 4   ♦ 9 7 5 2   ♣ A 6
Hand B:  ♠ K Q 8 3   ♥ J 9 4   ♦ K Q J 2   ♣ A 6

Hand A is excellent: your diamond losers will be ruffed, and all your high cards are working. Look for slam. Hand B has 6 HCP wasted in diamonds, so sign off in 4♠.

Jacoby 2NT is alertable under the ABF Alerting Regulations.

3. Splinter bids

A splinter is a double jump in a new suit. It shows:

Four or more cards in partner’s suit.
Values for game (about 11–15 points).
A singleton or void in the suit you bid.

1♥ – 4♣: “I have heart support, game values, and at most one club.”

Opener can now judge the fit. With little in clubs, opener’s high cards are all working and slam may be possible. With ♣ K Q x, the club honours are wasted and opener signs off in 4♥.

Avoid splintering with a singleton ace. Partner will discount honours in that suit, and you’ll misjudge the hand.

Alerting: splinters below the four level (1♥ – 3♠) are alertable. Calls at the four level and above are self-alerting under ABF rules, so 1♥ – 4♣ is not alerted. The opponents can ask what it means.

4. Bergen raises

Bergen raises use 3♣ and 3♦ to show four-card support:

1♠ – 3♣: about 7–10 points, four or more spades.
1♠ – 3♦: about 10–12 points, four or more spades (a limit raise).

They let opener judge whether to bid game, and they take bidding space away from the opponents. Bergen raises are alertable.

Opener can bid the step between responder’s bid and three of the major as a game try. For example, after 1♠ – 3♣, opener’s 3♦ asks responder to bid game with a maximum.

5. Drury

After you pass and partner opens 1♥ or 1♠ in third or fourth seat, partner may have opened light. A jump to the three level with a limit raise could get you too high.

Drury (usually played as Reverse Drury) uses 2♣ to show a raise with about 10–12 points and three or more cards in partner’s major:

Pass – (Pass) – 1♠ – (Pass) – 2♣

Opener’s rebid	Meaning
2♠	A light or minimum opening: let’s stop here
Any other bid	A full opening hand: game is still possible
4♠	Enough to play game

Agree with your partner whether 2♣ shows three cards, four cards, or either, and whether you also use 2♦ (“two-way Drury”). Drury is alertable because 2♣ is artificial.

6. Roman Keycard Blackwood (1430)

Ordinary Blackwood counts aces. Roman Keycard Blackwood (RKCB) counts five keycards: the four aces and the king of trumps. It also tells you about the queen of trumps.

4NT asks for keycards. With the 1430 responses:

Response	Keycards held
5♣	1 or 4
5♦	3 or 0
5♥	2, without the trump queen
5♠	2, with the trump queen

The asker can almost always tell from the auction whether 5♣ means one keycard or four.

Asking for the trump queen. After a 5♣ or 5♦ reply, the asker bids the next suit up, skipping the trump suit. Responder signs off in trumps without the queen and makes any other bid with it.

Asking for kings. 5NT asks for side kings and promises that the partnership holds all five keycards and the trump queen. It invites a grand slam. Agree with your partner whether replies show the number of kings or specific kings.

When not to use Blackwood

Blackwood tells you how many keycards partner has, not which ones. Don’t use it when:

You have a void. Partner’s ace in that suit is wasted.
You have two fast losers in an unbid suit. Even with all the keycards you may lose the first two tricks. Use control bids instead (section 7).

Interference over 4NT. If an opponent bids over your 4NT, many pairs play DOPI: Double = 0 keycards, Pass = 1, and the next step up = 2. Agree this in advance.

7. Control bids

Once trumps are agreed and you’re in a game-forcing auction, a new suit is a control bid (also called a cue bid). It shows a first-round control (ace or void) or second-round control (king or singleton) in that suit, and interest in slam.

A common approach:

Show your cheapest control first.
Skipping a suit denies a control in it.

1♠ – 2NT – 3♠ – 4♣

Spades are agreed and opener has shown a strong hand. Responder’s 4♣ shows a club control and denies a diamond control (responder skipped diamonds). If opener has no diamond control either, the partnership has two fast diamond losers and should stop in 4♠.

8. Exclusion Blackwood

With a void, you can ask partner for keycards outside the void suit. An unusual jump to the five level in a new suit (after trumps are agreed) is Exclusion Blackwood: “I have a void here; how many keycards do you have, not counting the ace of this suit?”

Replies are by steps: the first step shows 0 keycards outside the void suit, the second step 1, the third step 2, and so on. Make sure you and your partner agree on which jumps are exclusion and which are natural.

Rules worth remembering

Show four-card support straight away: Bergen, Jacoby 2NT or a splinter.
Shortness opposite small cards is gold; shortness opposite honours is waste.
Don’t splinter with a singleton ace.
After you’ve passed, use Drury rather than a jump raise.
RKCB 1430: 5♣ = 1 or 4, 5♦ = 3 or 0, 5♥ = 2 without the queen, 5♠ = 2 with the queen.
Don’t use Blackwood with a void or with two fast losers in an unbid suit. Control bid instead.
5NT promises all the keycards and the trump queen.

Try these

1. Partner opens 1♥. You hold ♠ 7 ♥ K J 8 5 ♦ A Q 6 4 ♣ K 10 7 3. What do you respond?

2. You open 1♠ and partner bids 2NT (Jacoby). You hold ♠ A K J 6 4 ♥ 5 ♦ K Q 8 3 ♣ Q 9 2. What do you rebid?

3. You’ve passed as dealer. Partner opens 1♥ in third seat. You hold ♠ Q 6 ♥ K 10 7 4 ♦ A 9 5 2 ♣ 8 6 3. What do you bid?

4. Spades are trumps. You bid 4NT (RKCB 1430) and partner replies 5♥. What does partner hold?

5. Partner opens 1♠ and you have ♠ K Q 10 8 4 ♥ — ♦ A K 7 5 ♣ A 9 6 2. Partner has shown a minimum. Why is plain 4NT a poor choice, and what could you use instead?

Answers

1. 3♠, a splinter. Over 1♥, a jump to 2♠ would be a single jump, so 3♠ is the double jump. It shows four-card heart support, game values (13 HCP) and a singleton spade. Because it’s below the four level, partner alerts it.

2. 3♥: a singleton (or void) in hearts. Showing your shortness lets partner judge whether their high cards are working.

3. 2♣, Drury. You have about 10 points and four hearts. As a passed hand, Drury lets partner stop in 2♥ if they opened light.

4. Two keycards without the queen of trumps.

5. You have a void in hearts, so partner’s ♥A would be wasted, and plain Blackwood can’t tell you which aces partner holds. Use Exclusion Blackwood (5♥, if you’ve agreed it): partner then counts keycards outside hearts.

Words to know

Term	Meaning
Jacoby 2NT	A 2NT response showing four-card support for opener’s major and game-forcing values
Splinter	A double jump in a new suit showing support and a singleton or void in that suit
Bergen raises	3♣ and 3♦ responses that show four-card support with different strengths
Drury	A 2♣ response by a passed hand that shows a limit raise in opener’s major
Keycard	One of the four aces or the king of trumps
RKCB 1430	Roman Keycard Blackwood, where 5♣ shows 1 or 4 keycards and 5♦ shows 3 or 0
Control bid	A bid in a new suit showing an ace, king, singleton or void, after trumps are agreed
Exclusion Blackwood	A jump to the five level in a void suit, asking for keycards outside that suit
Wasted values	High cards opposite partner’s shortness, which don’t take tricks

What next?

Agree a raise structure with your partner and write it on your system card.
Practise RKCB with five hands at home: decide the trump suit, ask, and check the replies.
Move on to Module 3: Competitive doubles and two-suiters, for the auctions where the opponents won’t let you bid in peace.