Byzantine Blackwood ------------------- Developed by J.C.H. Marx from Great Britain. It is a complex system used to show the aces, kings and queens of key suits. It is used only when there are one or two key suits. Key suits are: * the trump suit * any geniune suit bid and supported by the partnership * any suit bid by a player IF their partner's first bid was in NT (for example, with 1H-2NT, hearts is a key suit) If there is only one key suit, the king of a half-key suit may be shown. A half-key suit is a geniune suit that is bid but not supported. ********************************************************************** If there is only one key suit, the responses to 4NT are: {notation: A = ace, kK = key suit king, kQ = key suit queen, hK = half-key suit king } 5C 0A; 3A; or 2A+kK 5D 1A; 4A; or 3A+kK 5H 2A; A+kK+kQ; or kA+kK+hK (where kA = key suit Ace) 5S 2A+kK+kQ; or 3A+hK 5NT 3A+kK+kQ; or 4A+kK ********************************************************************** If there two key suits, half-key suits are not shown, and the responses to 4NT are: {more notation: k(A+K+Q) = ace, king and queen of the same key suit} 5C 0A; 3A; or 2A+kK 5D 1A; 4A; or 3A+kK 5H 2A; k(A+K+Q); or A+2kK 5S 2A+k(K+Q); 2A+2kK; or A+kK+k(K+Q) 5NT 3A+k(K+Q); 3A+2kK; 4A+kK; 2A+kK+k(K+Q); or A+2k(K+Q)