Granville
     
 
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Granville

 
 

Granville is specifically used in a forcing NoTrump situation over a 1 opening. Over partner's 1 opening, the meanings of 1 and 1NT are reversed! A 1NT bid promises 4+ 's (or 5 in some versions) and a 1 bid is the Forcing NoTrump (denying 4+ 's). This means that after the ‘forcing NT bid' of 1, then opener does not have to bid a 3 card minor, but can simply bid 1NT. I cannot see that the 5 card version has any sense, so we shall limit this discussion to 4+ card suits. Of course, if responder has a 4 card suit, then the auction cannot go 1 - 1 - 1NT - pass as the initial response would have been 1NT (showing ' s and forcing). And if the responder has a suit and bids 1NT, then opener is forced to bid without support and may have to bid the 3 card minor on this occasion.

 
     
 

So, swings and roundabouts really. Works when responder does not have a suit but is inferior when he does. I guess that the odds are very slightly in favour of not having 4+ 's, so the convention does perhaps have a slight mathematical advantage; but a similar convention is unavailable with a 1 opening. There also appear to be some other disadvantages with the convention. One important one is that 2 in the sequence 1 - 1 - 1NT - 2 is frequently used as Checkback, looking for 3 card support; this is not possible using the Granville convention.

 
     
  This convention is also known as Gazille; I'm not sure, but it may have beem devised by Edgar Kaplan.  
     
 

Thus my advice is to stick with the conventional Forcing No Trump.

 
     
     
 
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