[pirate22]

Have found this is of better use-- but on 3 occasions now
having recieved the right number of aces,whether a suit agreed
or not agreed,have wanted to ask for Kings,what is the recognised
procedure example pard 1Ht-p-2cl-p
3cl-p-4n/t-p
5cl {= 3 A} ?? i now want to ask for Kings

[Zelandakh]

It depends on which version you are playing. First of all I note that you wrote aces but I will assume you meant key cards for now and we are talking about RKCB. In the original version of RKCB the follow-up was 5NT. The majority still play it this way and this would be my assumption with a random pick-up partner. However, a popular (and better) alternative is to use the lowest unused bid for a king ask. In your example 5♦ would ask for the ♣Q; 5♥ would be a sign-off opposite 0; and 5♠ could thus be used to ask for kings. Note also that some pairs use spiral scan responses after a key card response.

The next problem you will have if you decide to try a king ask is what partner's responses mean. While it is standard amongst better players to respond with specific kings it is much more common for intermediates to give the number of side kings held. This is another matter that might need discussion. Overall I would suggest avoiding a king ask with a pick-up partner as the scope for a misunderstanding is so high. If you have agreements in place you should of course use them.

One last point. In your example the trump suit is clubs. Where this is the case many good players will prefer to use either 4♣ or 4♦ as the key card ask. This allows much more space after the response to sort out the matter of side kings. If you are discussing this with a regular partner then I would recommend one of these approaches. If this is just a general query about how to play with pick-up partners then I can only reiterate my earlier advice not to initiate a king ask in this case.

[blackshoe]

Generally speaking, a king ask should guarantee all 6 key cards (four aces, the king and queen of trump) and be a grand slam try. However, you have no way of knowing if a pick-up partner understands that, without discussion. Not so much a problem when you're asking, since you control the auction, but when he asks… Just another point to keep in mind.

[aguahombre]

blackshoe, on 2012-March-29, 10:16, said:

Generally speaking, a king ask should guarantee all 6 key cards (four aces, the king and queen of trump) and be a grand slam try. However, you have no way of knowing if a pick-up partner understands that, without discussion. Not so much a problem when you're asking, since you control the auction, but when he asks… Just another point to keep in mind.

Yes, a king ask should guarantee all 6 keys; yes it allows for the possibility we belong in a grand slam; no, we don't still have control of the auction when we ask for kings. Partner can break and blast with certain previously undisclosed trick sources.

In fact, it seems workable to deny all 6 if we fail to ask for kings, and routinely ask for kings as a courtesy step when all 6 are held ---just in case partner wants to break.

[blackshoe]

aguahombre, on 2012-March-29, 12:00, said:

Yes, a king ask should guarantee all 6 keys; yes it allows for the possibility we belong in a grand slam; no, we don't still have control of the auction when we ask for kings. Partner can break and blast with certain previously undisclosed trick sources.

In fact, it seems workable to deny all 6 if we fail to ask for kings, and routinely ask for kings as a courtesy step when all 6 are held ---just in case partner wants to break.

Seems to me it's a matter of partnership agreement. IOW, if you have an agreement that partner can "break and blast", probably based on an agreement that a king ask guarantees all six keys, that's fine. If you don't have that agreement, and the asker may in fact not have all six, I would think blasting too dangerous.

That last could be a workable agreement — if in fact a pair has agreed it. I would not assume it.