[cwiggins]

I have seen a few references online to a variation of Gazzilli where the 2C rebid is either the minimum one-suited hand or 16+ instead of the usual 5+M and 4+C minimum or 16+.

Has anyone tried this?

[yunling]

See http://www.bridgebas...tching-gazzilli
I agree with awm that it is not a good idea since you may not be able to land in a good partscore with those 16+6 hands.
A riton 2C is better IMO...

[zasanya]

The following extract is from the book 'Fantunes Revealed' by Bil Jacobs.
" Question: If you had to choose a convention, which one would you pick?
Fulvio Fantoni: Gazzilli … it is a convention that I think should be used by all who play natural bridge.
Strong words. Gazzilli allows opener to describe a strong hand with a two-step sequence in these auctions. Responder divides his range into
minimum or maximum when rebidding after 2♣. Opener’s strong hand plus responder’s maximum places the partnership in a game force."
Gazzilli is indispensable in Fantunes as the fantunes first response starts from 0 . It may not be that useful in other natural systems.

[WesleyC]

I've played both methods (we called the method you're suggesting 'The Witch') and in practice they're pretty close to equivalent.

Especially at IMPs, playing 2H in a 5/1 major fit with (16)17 opposite 5 to 7 is usually fine (even if it might not be the best contract). There is also more potential for the opponents to mis-defend if they aren't sure whether declarer holds 6+H or a 16-17 hand with 5H.

awm's analysis also only considered the situation in terms of a non competitive auctions. Sometimes having an ambiguous auction like [1H - 1NT - 2C - 2H] might convince the opponents to make the wrong decision in the balancing seat.

And to agree with Zasanya, in a normal (non-fantunes) system I don't think Gazilli is an essential convention. Unless you spend a fair bit of time discussing the nuances of all the continuations, it probably isn't worth the effort.

[glen]

WesleyC, on 2015-July-01, 03:19, said:

... to agree with Zasanya, in a normal (non-fantunes) system I don't think Gazilli is an essential convention. Unless you spend a fair bit of time discussing the nuances of all the continuations, it probably isn't worth the effort.

I think it is an essential convention for any world class non-big club system that opens majors reasonably light. First, almost everybody agrees you need to open one of major on 11 counts and some shapely 10s. Second, most agree you need a very strong hand for opener's jump shift, 1M-1N-jump new suit. In bridge bidding problems, some 18 counts are deemed not good enough for a jump shift. This means that 1M-1NT-2 of new suit below 2M is a ridiculous (10)11-17(18). For example it goes: 1♠-1NT-2♥-?, and you hold:

♠ 5
♥ Q94
♦ K954
♣ AT542

[WesleyC]

glen, on 2015-July-01, 07:41, said:

I think it is an essential convention for any world class non-big club system that opens majors reasonably light. First, almost everybody agrees you need to open one of major on 11 counts and some shapely 10s. Second, most agree you need a very strong hand for opener's jump shift, 1M-1N-jump new suit. In bridge bidding problems, some 18 counts are deemed not good enough for a jump shift. This means that 1M-1NT-2 of new suit below 2M is a ridiculous (10)11-17(18). For example it goes: 1♠-1NT-2♥-?, and you hold:

♠ 5
♥ Q94
♦ K954
♣ AT542

Obviously pass - I wouldn't be surprised to see 2H go down!

I'm not claiming that Gazilli doesn't have benefits, especially for an experienced pair with a complete understanding of all the continuations, playing against expert defenders.

However, my experience playing in less than world class fields is that I'm happy to take my chances playing in 3NT with 17 opposite 7, jump shift/rebid 2NT on my (17)18-19s, and retain all the benefits of a natural 2C rebid. I would devote the system discussion/memory load to another spot that comes up more frequently and gains more when it does come up!

[jallerton]

glen, on 2015-July-01, 07:41, said:

I think it [Gazilli] is an essential convention for any world class non-big club system that opens majors reasonably light. First, almost everybody agrees you need to open one of major on 11 counts and some shapely 10s. Second, most agree you need a very strong hand for opener's jump shift, 1M-1N-jump new suit. In bridge bidding problems, some 18 counts are deemed not good enough for a jump shift. This means that 1M-1NT-2 of new suit below 2M is a ridiculous (10)11-17(18). For example it goes: 1♠-1NT-2♥-?, and you hold:

♠ 5
♥ Q94
♦ K954
♣ AT542

You might think that, but there are plenty of non-big-club pairs who have won world championships without playing this "essential" convention. Also, I don't know why you make the assumption that Gazilli is the only alternative to playing all of Opener's rebids as natural.

[steve2005]

On Bridgewinners Yuan Shen is doing a series on Gazzilli (a variation)
introduction

description

exploration

I think there will be one more part coming

[all loomis]

cwiggins, on 2015-June-30, 22:03, said:

I have seen a few references online to a variation of Gazzilli where the 2C rebid is either the minimum one-suited hand or 16+ instead of the usual 5+M and 4+C minimum or 16+.

Has anyone tried this?

in my system, 2c was either c's 12-20, with some strong playing hands excluded, or h's 12-16. this allowed 2h rebid to be forcing, either 6 s's 12-15 or h's forcing, 3rd bid guaranteed.

[lycier]

I rarely use Italy 2♣ convention.
Strangely almost of playing users rarely note the starter points of Gazzilli.
How many starter points do you have for playing Gazzilli?
The strongest pairs in the world are Alfredo Versace and Lorenzo Lauria, Lorenzo Lauria plays with Alfredo Versace on the last two decades, their partnership makes use of a variation of Gazzilli as developped by Lauria. Their starter points are 15hcp, however almost of other players in the world are 16hcp or 17hcp.

[lycier]

cwiggins, on 2015-June-30, 22:03, said:

I have seen a few references online to a variation of Gazzilli where the 2C rebid is either the minimum one-suited hand or 16+ instead of the usual 5+M and 4+C minimum or 16+.

Has anyone tried this?

Generally speaking, there are three situations for Italy 2♣.
First :

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Second :

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Third

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