Byzantine Blackwood convention Byzantine Blackwood convention Byzantine Blackwood is a bidding in the game of bridge. Devised by Jack Marx, it is a complex version of the (by which a four notrump (4NT) asks about 's holdings). Its premise is that both aces and kings may safely be shown in response to a Blackwood-type 4NT enquiry; provided that such kings are in well-defined "key" or "half-key" suits, there being no more than two such suits. The name was chosen to express the idea that Byzantine Blackwood is a development from Roman Blackwood, by analogy with the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Empire; rather
Easley Blackwood Jr. Easley Blackwood Jr. Easley Blackwood (born April 21, 1933) is an American professor of music, a concert pianist, a composer of music, some using unusual tunings, and the author of books on music theory, including his research into the properties of microtonal tunings and traditional harmony. Blackwood was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He studied piano there and was doing solo appearances at the age of 14 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. After studies at many places (including Yale University, where he earned his Master of Arts degree) in the United States, he went to Paris to study from 1954 to