Playing Standard system, you open one of a Major and partner responds one No trump. Now if you have a single suiter major GF hand, there is no convenient bid. You might jump to 3 of a minor to force the bidding that means responder will not know whether the new suit is of 3 or 4 or 5 cards. Also when you jump to three level with 5-4-3-1 GF hands, it becomes difficult to find the fit in your 3-card suit if the responder has that suit in a weak hand. The jump has taken away the space, which is of paramount importance for exploring and finding the right contract.
Similarly another problem area for Standard Bidders is balanced hand of 15-17 HCP with a 5-card major. If you open one of a major, there is re-bid problem with these hands. Many of the players today open 1NT with 5-card major to solve this problem. However this creates a further problem as you miss out on 5-4 or 5-3 major suit fits on borderline hands.
To solve all these difficulties and also to allow non-forcing jumps to three level with lower HCP (14-16), Italians (as far as I know), play what is called Gazzilli.
A) What is GAZZILLI
Gazzilli is an artificial bid of 2
by opener after Opening bid of 1
/1
and response of 1S or 1NT. The 2 response is forcing and you can no longer play there. The 2 bid is used for following kinds of hands:
-5-3-3-2 hands of 12 -14, 15-17 and 18-20 HCP.
-5 Major and 4+ Club with 11-16 HCP.
-Generally all other hands of 17+ HCP (single suiter, two suiter etc.)
B) Opener’s rebids after 1 Opening
Since Gazzilli covers most of the 17+ HCP hands, it allows us a great deal of fexibility with Precision like jumps. The jumps are no longer forcing and simple bids at two level (except 2) are narrower in HCP. This certainly has an advantage as responder no longer needs to keep the bidding open. The following are opener’s rebids after 1 opening and 1 or 1NT response:
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