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Tag: minors

RKC Minorwood

RKC Minorwood is a bridge convention which looks for all the keycards in a minor suit at a lower level that the normal 4NT RKCB

If you play inverted minors for example then the sequences will fit into this system:

1♣-2♣-4♣

So here 4♣ is RKC minorwood and the responses are:-

  • 4 – 1/4 Keycards
  • 4 – 0/3 Keycards
  • 4♠ – 2 Keycards
  • 4NT – 2Keycards + Queen of clubs

It’s also possible to play 4 as – no you tell me about your keycards and you can play the responses starting at 4 instead. But let’s not confuse things!

If the Queen of trumps has not been shown or denied,
then the cheapest non-trump suit becomes the Queen ask, and the next cheapest non-trump suit asks for Kings specifically.
If the Queen has been shown, the cheapest non-trump suit asks for Kings.

4NT / 5♣ bids are sign off.

When replying to the queen ask : The 5NT bid response would show the queen + 2 kings.

1-2-4

So here 4 is RKC minorwood

  • 4 – 1/4 Keycards
  • 4♠ – 0/3 Keycards
  • 4NT – 2 Keycards
  • 5♣ – 2Keycards + Queen of diamonds

It’s also possible to play 4 as – no you tell me about your keycards and you can play the responses starting at 4♠ instead. But let’s not confuse things!

If the Queen of trumps has not been shown or denied,
then the cheapest non-trump suit becomes the Queen ask, and the next cheapest non-trump suit asks for Kings.
If the Queen has been shown, the cheapest non-trump suit asks for Kings.

4NT / 5 bids are sign off.

When replying to the queen ask : The 5NT bid response would show the queen + 2 kings.

Spotting Minorwood?

When is Minorwood minorwood?

  1. The 4m bid cannot be construed as competitive.
  2. The partnership is in a GF auction, has reached game (i.e. 3NT), or bypassed any effort to check for 3NT (which covers the 1m (2m/3m) 4m case).
  3. The minor suit fit is explicitly established, implied (e.g. auction started 1♣ 1NT), or one partner has bid the minor enough times that partner’s 4m should imply support (at least Hx or xxx).

Inverted Minors

Again this is another bridge convention that people play in different ways…so you really need to make sure that you and your partner are playing it the same way before you agree to play inverted minors.

This version i’m going to describe I play with a prepared club (might only be a 2 card suit) and a 5 card diamond suit (unbalanced) with a strong NT.

So the whole point of inverted minors are that the 2♣ and 2 bid replace the 3♣ and 3 bids in normal Acol. In simplistic terms at least. However there is more complexity to it than that….

Let’s start with 1♣ – 2♣

This shows 10+ points, a 5 card club suit and is forcing to 2NT or 3♣.

  • 2 = 15+ points or natural diamonds
  • 2 = A heart stop, and possibly no spade stop or getting ready to show a 5 card suit.
  • 2♠ = A spade stop, and possibly no heart stop or getting ready to show a 5 card spade suit.
  • 2NT – stops in both major less that 15 points
  • 3♣ = I’ve got Clubs and a weak hand.
  • 3//♠ = Splinters
  • 3NT = 18/19 points
  • 4♣ = RKC Minorwood

1 – 2

This shows 10+ points, a 4 card diamond suit and is forcing to 2NT or 3.

  • 2 = A heart stop, and possibly no spade stop or getting ready to show a 5 card suit.
  • 2♠ = A spade stop, and possibly no heart stop or getting ready to show a 5 card spade suit.
  • 2NT – stops in both major less that 15 points
  • 3♣ = 15+ points or natural clubs
  • 3 = Minimum hand with diamonds
  • 3 /♠ = Splinters
  • 3NT = 18/19 points
  • 4♣ = Splinter
  • 4 = RKC Minorwood

1 Minor – 3 Minor

This is now straightforward – 5-9 points and shows a 5 card club suit and a 4+ card diamond support

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