The Gerber Ace Asking Bid
The Gerber ace asking convention was devised four years after Easley Blackwood gave us his eponymous agreement. In 1938, John Gerber of Houston, Texas, decided that the idle bid of four clubs after agreement to play in a notrump contract (and when the bid could not possibly have a natural meaning) could serve as an ace asking bid.
Either partner could bid 4
to discover how many aces his partner held. The first step of four
4
indicates no aces, 4
is one ace, etc. If the asking partner needs to know
about kings, he continues the inquiry by bidding 5.
Some partnerships use the next higher suit over partner's response instead of 5
. thus, if
the responding hand has bid 4 as a response, then the asking call would be 4
.
This method is sometimes referred to as Sliding Gerber.
Roy Wilson