Gandolfo 2NT

(Courtesy of Bob Crosby)

With openers in the majors especially with two suiters and 6-4’s getting lighter and lighter in modern bidding, there has to be a way of describing intermediate hands just under a strong jump shift in forcing NT sequences. Tom Gandolfo feels that the 2NT rebid to invite after a forcing NT is a waste of time. He says you should use it as Lebensohl to show all the invitational 5-5 hands and strong one suiters. Therefore a simple rebid of a new suit is a weak 5-5 or a 6-4, 5-4. This way you do not need a phony jump shift of 3 or a number of relays like Fred Gittleman uses.

The 2NT rebid allows the strong jump shifts to remain but defines the jump rebids as always showing a good suit. If you have a good hand with a broken suit you would rebid 2NT which forces partner to bid 3. Rebidding the major is forcing showing a broken suit but with lots of HCP’s. A new suit is an invitational 5-5. A 3NT bid is a 5-5 with clubs and forces partner to 4 with a hand unsuitable for 3NT.

This treatment frees the Gittleman relay just to work with 6-4’s. A weak 6-4 is just bid naturally. If the forcing 1NT bidder invites by bidding 2NT a return to your major is weak. To show the intermediate hands then relay by bidding 3. Partner bids 3 and you rebid your 6 card suit to show the good 6-4.

This Lebensohl 2NT rebid in these sequences prevents the forcing 1NT from stretching with heart fits after a spade opener. There are inferences that invitational heart hands are covered with the 2NT rebid so there is no need to stretch after a 2 rebid. Partner can not have much with a simple minor bid also so no need to get aggressive. The 2NT rebid fills a gap of all invitational rebids by the opener.

Invitational 5-4-3-1 hands are handled by “patterning out”. Pitbull Pat and I had an auction at the Calgary Regional.

Pat held AKJ9x K109x x AQx and opened 1 and I bid 1NT. Pat rebid 2 and I bid 2. Standard expert treatment is to describe invitational hands by “patterning out”. Pat bids 3 and I know that she has a singleton diamond and I can evaluate my hand accordingly. 4 makes 5 because we hand no duplication of value in diamonds.

This hand is not suitable for the Gandolfo 2NT rebid as that should be restricted to 2 suiters or a one suited major. Modern treatment means you have to give up something that has been standard with normal bidding since the beginning of bridge. More and more the invitational 2NT is being replaced as it is not a particularly useful type of bid.