On page 59 of the January 1998 issue of Bridge
Bulletin, it informs the reader about some changes in the work which,
if approved, could have an impact on your play at tournaments. Mr. Gary Blaiss, who
wrote the article, states specifically that:
The General Convention Chart is more restrictive in two areas. Defenses to natural No Trump openings and overcalls have been restricted to the extent that direct bids above 2 Diamonds must have a known suit. Split-range 1 No Trump openers, Woodson for example, are no longer permitted. In events played under the Mid-Chart or SuperChart, however, any constructive defense to No Trumps and Woodson-like split-range 1 No Trump openers is permitted.
Following is a review of Woodson Two-Way No Trump.
This convention, named after Mr. William
Woodson, permits an opening bid of 1 No Trump with any balanced hand and can
contain 10-12 high card points or 16-18 high card points. Mr. William Woodson reasoned
that the opponents would have a more difficult time entering the auction if confronted
by a 1 No Trump.
Using this convention the responder of the
1 No Trump bidder does not know: 10-12 or 16-18 high card points. Therefore, with
15 high card points or less, the responder assumes 16-18 high card points and bases
his calls upon that assumption, and actually tries for game with 8 high card points
or more.
With 0-7 high card points and a sort of balanced
hand, the responder should pass, hoping that the opponents do not decide to balance.
With 0-7 high card points and a 5-card plus suit besides Clubs, the responder bids
this suit. The 1 No Trump bidder should pass this bid, unless he actually has a maximum
in the 16-18 high card point Range. If he does, then trying for game is not out of
the question.
If the responder does have 14/15 plus high
card points and a balanced hand, then striving for game is the best option, even
with the 10-12 high card point range of the No Trump bidder. If the No Trump bidder
has 16-18 high card points, then slam is possible.
| The sequence: 1 No Trump - 2 No Trump is game invitation. |
| The sequence: 1 No Trump - 2 No Trump - 3 Clubs is slam invitation. |
As you can see, the responder is put into an
unsound position. He does not know the strength of his partner. But Mr. William Woodson
compensated for this. He devised the following, if his partner should have 8 plus
high card points and would like to find out more about the strength of the 1 No Trump.
The following chart clarifies Mr. William Woodson's convention.
From this point on, the responder has to think logically. The responder now has a better clarification of his partner's hand. He combines this knowledge with the length and strength of his own hand, and then makes the appropriate bid. As you can see, there will be a lot of "ifs and thens" in the following auction. However, please remember that the Woodson Convention has been targeted and has been banned on the General Convention Chart.
If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.