Roman Blackwood

Not to be confused with Roman Key Card Blackwood, Roman Blackwood is a version of Blackwood based on the rank and colors of the four aces. Its conventional responses to a 4NT ace-asking bid are:

Response	Meaning
5	0 or 3 aces
5	1 or 4 aces
5	2 aces of the same color or rank
5	2 aces of dissimilar color and rank

Specifically, the 5 response shows one of the following pairs of aces:

• A and A (the black aces)
• A and A (the red aces)
• A and A (the minor suit aces)
• A and A (the major suit aces)

And the 5 response specifically shows either:

• A and A
• A and A

A 5NT rebid by the 4NT bidder is king-asking, the responses to which are the same as regular Blackwood.

• 6 shows 0 or 4 kings
• 6 shows 1 king
• 6 shows 2 kings
• 6 shows 3 kings

From the late Edgar Kaplan:¹

		Opener			Responder
		KQJ1062			A873
		AK			Q84
		KQ643			72
		—			AQ75
		Opener 1 4NT 6			Responder 3 5 Pass

"Opener learns that he is missing an important ace, and cannot make a grand slam. The 5 heart response shows two like aces: probably, from opener's point of view, spades and clubs (like in color), possibly diamonds and clubs (like in rank).

"Had responder held the spade and diamond aces, he would have responded 5 spades. Opener, looking at his own ace of hearts, would know exactly which unlike aces responder held, and would confidently bid 7 spades."

Roman Blackwood was created by the famous Italian Blue Team in the 1960s.

¹ Kaplan, Edgar. Winning Contract Bridge. New York, Fleet Publishing Corporation, 1964.