The basic principle behind the Lebensohl convention is to use a 2NT bid as an artificial relay, asking partner to bid Three Clubs. This can be applied in numerous auctions, and we will be covering a number of those in related articles.
Today, we concentrate on the situation in which Lebensohl is most frequently applied, when partner’s 1NT opening is overcalled by RHO.
There are two parts to Lebensohl as it applies in this auction, and we will deal with them in two distinct sections.
First, let us look at the advantages of using Lebensohl when we have a suit of our own to bid. Suppose partner opens a 15-17 1NT and RHO overcalls Two Spades. What would you do with each of these three hands?
Hand A J 2 9 7 3 5 3 K J 10 9 4 3 |
Hand B 7 A Q 8 6 8 5 Q J 8 6 5 4 |
Hand C A 6 K 7 2 Q 10 4 A Q 7 6 3 |
Holding Hand A, you surely do not want to defend Two Spades. Neither, though, do you want to bid game. Ideally, you want to be able to play in Three Clubs.
If you are not playing Lebensohl (or some similar convention) then you have two options: Pass and defend Two Spades, or bidding and hope either than you can somehow make 3NT or, perhaps, stop in four Clubs and make ten tricks. Neither is very satisfactory.
Using Lebensohl, you would start by bidding 2NT. This bid is a "puppet" and in this situation partner has to bid Three Clubs. With Hand A, of course, you plan to pass partner's Three Club response. If your suit was diamonds or hearts, then you would bid your suit over Three Clubs and partner would be expected to put down dummy.
So:
|
You — 2NT |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 |
RHO 2 All Pass |
or
|
You — 2NT 3 |
LHO — All Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 |
RHO 2 Pass |
Note that in this second auction, partner is NOT invited to bid again. His hand is already fairly well defined, both in terms of shape and strength, so you are picking the contract.
Hand B (repeated for convenience)
7
A Q 8 6
8 5
Q J 8 6 5 4
With Hand B, you want to be able to investigate three different game contracts, Five Clubs, Four Hearts and 3NT. That’s easy enough: because you play Lebensohl, any bid at the three-level is game-forcing, so you can just start with a natural and forcing Three Clubs.
If partner advances with Three Diamonds then you will be able to bid a natural and forcing Three Hearts. If partner happens to bid hearts over Three Clubs, you can raise to game. If partner bids 3NT then you can Pass, content that the alternative contracts have all been investigated.
Hand C (repeated for convenience)
A 6
K 7 2
Q 10 4
A Q 7 6 3
Similarly, you will also start with a forcing Three Club bid on Hand C. Here, though, you plan on looking for a slam but, at this point, Five Clubs, Six Clubs and either game or slam in notrumps are all possible contracts.
If partner bids 3NT over Three Clubs, you can make a quantitative raise to 4NT, having already shown your five-card suit on the way. Partner should then be well-placed to choose the best game or slam.
If partner bids a red suit, you can continue with a Three Spade cue-bid, asking for a spade stopper for notrumps. If he shows one by bidding 3NT, again you can raise to 4NT. If he does not, you can still investigate slam in clubs.
These sequences cover all ranges of unbalanced hands, from those that just wish to compete the partscore, through those seeking the best game contract, all the way up to hands wanting to investigate slam.
For the sake of completeness, there is one more auction type to mention: when responder starts with the 2NT Lebensohl relay and then bids a suit higher than the opponent’s suit.
This is the type of auction I am referring to:
|
You — 2NT 3 |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 |
RHO 2 Pass |
If you wanted just to compete the partscore, you would have bid Two Spades at your first turn. If you wanted to force to game, you would have jumped to Three Spades immediately over Two Hearts (new suits at the three-level are game-forcing, remember).
This sequence, therefore, shows an invitational hand, usually with a six-card spade suit. Partner either passes Three Spades or raises to game.
I mentioned earlier that there were two parts to the Lebensohl convention. We have dealt with how to bid unbalanced hands of various strengths, so that leaves balanced on which you want to bid game but are, perhaps, unsure which game.
If the auction begins:
|
You — ? |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 |
There are four possible hand types that you might want to show and, conveniently, four possible sequences to shows them. These are the four hand types you might hold:
| Hand D | Four spades and no heart stop |
| Hand E | Fewer than four spades and no heart stop |
| Hand F | Four spades and a stop in hearts |
| Hand G | Fewer than four spades but a heart stop |
There are numerous ways that you might show these four hand types, but the structure outlined below is the one most commonly played.
For example, suppose you sit down opposite an unknown partner on BBO and a Lebensohl situation arises. This is how you should interpret partner’s bidding (and how he is most likely to interpret yours).
Sequence D:
|
You — 3 |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 |
Cue-bidding the opponent’s suit promises four cards in the unbid major (or in at least one major if the opponent’s suit is a minor). Bidding directly denies a stopper in the opponent’s suit.
Sequence E:
|
You — 3NT |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 |
Bidding 3NT denies four cards in the unbid major (or in either major if the opponent’s suit is a minor). Bidding directly denies a stopper in the opponent’s suit.
Sequence F:
|
You — 2NT 3 |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 |
RHO 2 Pass |
Again, cue-bidding the opponent’s suit promises four cards in the unbid major (or in at least one major in the opponent’s suit is a minor).
Starting with the Lebensohl 2NT (and then showing a balanced hand by cue-bidding or bidding 3NT) shows a stopper in the opponent’s suit. (“Slow Shows” is the way that many people remember which way around these are played.)
Sequence G:
|
You — 2NT 3NT |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 |
RHO 2 Pass |
As above, bidding 3NT denies four cards in the unbid major (or in either major in the opponent’s suit is a minor). Starting with the Lebensohl 2NT and then bidding 3NT shows a stopper in the opponent’s suit (“Slow Shows”).
Four possible hand types, four sequences.
Note that the easy one to forget is when partner jumps to 3NT directly (ie. Sequence E above). Although this may sound like a natural bid he is DENYING a stopper in the opponent’s suit.
That deals with balanced hands and unbalanced hands when your RHO intervenes with an overcall over partner’s 1NT opening bid. There is just one question left (although it is not strictly part of Lebensohl) and that is the use of "Double" in this auction.
In the original Lebensohl convention, double was used as a replacement for the natural 2NT bid. While this is ideal on some hands, you will find few players who still play it that way, mostly because it makes things difficult for opener to judge whether to bid or defend.
Playing double as penalties is, perhaps, the easiest option. It does mean that you will get your pound of flesh more often than not when the opponent's overcall is badly timed. However, it also means that you will lose out on many competitive battles.
On grounds of frequency, it has widely become common practice to play double as takeout these days. For example:
|
Hand H 2 J 10 7 3 K 10 5 3 K 9 4 3 |
Hand I 9 A Q 6 4 K J 8 3 K 6 5 4 |
|
You — ? |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 |
Do you really want to defend Two Spades when you hold Hand H? Of course not. What, though, do you bid if you cannot make a takeout double? This hand type will occur far more frequently than one on which you have an out-and-out penalty double.
Similarly on Hand I. Yes, you do have the option of bidding Three Spades here, showing four hearts and no spade stopper. If partner bids 3NT, though, are you sure that passing is the right thing to do? Might not a minor-suit game be a much safer proposition? You might even have slam in a minor?
Suppose partner holds something like:
A 6 4
K 5
A Q 9 7 4
Q 9 2
You can just make nine tricks in notrumps, but twelve are easy in diamonds. Starting with a jump to Three Spades suggests a balanced hand, so partner will bid 3NT here and your diamond fit will never come to light.
If, instead, you start with a takeout double and then advance with Three Spades over opener’s Three Diamond response, partner will be more than happy to co-operate with your slam try.
Playing takeout doubles certainly allows you to compete the partscore more effectively, but it does not preclude you from picking up the odd penalty either. Perhaps partner’s 1NT opening includes Q-J-9-x-x in RHO’s suit, for example. He will then be more than happy to convert your takeout double for penalties.
In these days of highly competitive bidding, opener should also be quite prepared to re-open with a double when he has a doubleton in the overcaller’s suit. Now, when you hold:
Q J 9 4
K 5
10 9 7 4 2
9 2
|
You — Pass |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT Dbl |
RHO 2 All Pass |
You were never bidding game, but the chances are very high that you will collect a nice penalty from Two Spades doubled.
Of course, you will also get the odd silly result too. First, when the hand is a misfit and overcaller's partner has a good hand but shortage in his partner's suit, you may well find yourself playing Three Clubs-Doubled on a 4-3 fit and a combined 17 count. Ouch!
The other stupid result that will occur occasionally is when overcaller's suit is distributed 5 4 0 4 around the table and NEITHER of you has a TAKE OUT double. As a result, you defend Two Spades and collect an inadequate +250.
No system will get you to the best spot on every layout, though, and on grounds of frequency you will be better placed to compete when you want to do so if you play takeout doubles from both sides of the table.
Suppose, for example, that RHO intervenes with a Two Diamond bid, showing a one-suited overcall in an unspecified major. What do the various bids now mean?
You can still bid Two Hearts or Two Spades, natural and non-invitational. Any suit bid at the three-level, whether a jump or not, is natural and game-forcing.
If you want to compete in either minor, you start with the 2NT Lebensohl relay and either pass partner’s forced Three Club response or convert to Three Diamonds (non-invitational).
The problem hand in this situation is a balanced hand with a four-card major. How do you find a 4-4 fit? The answer is to use a double as Stayman. Partner bids a four-card major if he has one (hearts before spades with both, as usual), and bids 2NT without a four-card major.
Suppose now that you do not find a fit, but you are concerned about a stop in the opponent’s suit. Say something like:
A J 6 4
5
Q 7 6 2
K 9 7 4
|
You — Dbl ? |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT 2NT |
RHO 2 *Pass |
You can now bid Three Spades. Partner knows you do not have a five-card suit (you would have jumped to Three Spades at your first turn), so the implication is that you have spades and are worried about hearts. Suppose partner’s hand is something like:
K 7
J 7 3
A J 3
A Q 10 6 3
You can easily avoid playing in a silly 3NT and, instead, find your way to Five Clubs.
|
You — Dbl 3 5 |
LHO — Pass Pass All Pass |
Partner 1NT 2NT 4 |
RHO 2 *Pass Pass |
Happy days!
RHO will often overcall with a bid showing both majors, perhaps Two Clubs (Landy) or Two Diamonds (Cappelletti).
After such a bid, the best strategy is probably to give up trying to find a major-suit fit. Even if you find a 4-4 fit, you know that trumps are going to break at best 4-1, and perhaps 5-0.
|
You — ? |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 * |
You can still bid Two Diamonds, natural and non-invitational.
You can also show a hand that wants to compete in clubs (2NT intending to pass partner’s forced Three Clubs), or a game-forcing hand with one minor via a natural three-level bid in either suit.
Starting with 2NT and then bidding Three Diamonds over opener’s Three Clubs is invitational.
What, then, do various bids in the majors show?
There is no standard method, so you may decide with your partner to assign any meaning you wish. A workable method, though, is to use Two Hearts/Spades to show a hand with both minors.
Note that you need only have the values to want to compete, so partner should just pick his best minor. (You could decide to use Two Hearts to show better clubs and Two Spades to show better diamonds, or you could bid the major in which you have some values. In either case, though, partner should be aware that you may have no real preference – i.e. you may have similar holdings in the two suits.)
Obviously, if you have game-going (or stronger) values, you will bid again after partner has given preference. You might advance by bidding a major where you hold a stop, to give partner a choice of bidding 3NT, for example.
|
You — 2 3 |
LHO — Pass Pass |
Partner 1NT 3 3NT |
RHO 2 *Pass All Pass |
You have shown both minors with better or longer clubs ) and then shown game-forcing values and a heart stop ).
With both minors, game-forcing values and a major-suit shortage, you start with a splinter-bid on your first turn. Thus:
|
You — 3 |
LHO — |
Partner 1NT |
RHO 2 * |
would show a hand such as
K 7 3
5
A Q 8 4
K 9 6 4 3
That leaves us with just one question: what is a double of the opponent’s artificial Two Club (or Two Diamond) bid?
This usually shows a hand with no direction but with enough values to know the hand belongs to our side. For example:
K J 8 3
J 5
A J 4
Q 9 4 3
You do not really want to commit yourself to playing 3NT when the opponents could easily cash the first five or six heart tricks. Double says, "It is our hand, do you want to double them?"
It also suggest that you are interested in doubling at least one (and perhaps both) of the majors.
|
You — Dbl |
LHO — 2 |
Partner 1NT ? |
RHO 2 * |
If partner doubles Two Hearts, you are happy to defend.
|
You — Dbl Dbl |
LHO — 2 All Pass |
Partner 1NT Pass |
RHO 2 *Pass |
Partner is not invited to bid in front of you. If he cannot double, he should pass to see if you want to defend.
|
You — Dbl ? |
LHO — Pass |
Partner 1NT Pass |
RHO 2 *2M |
If RHO retreats to spades here, your will double and that should end the auction. If, though, he bids Two Hearts, you can pass this around to partner to see if he wants to double.
Pass is 100% forcing. Having doubled Two Clubs, your side cannot defend undoubled – either you try to penalize the opponents or you bid game.
The other situation in which Lebensohl is most useful and is commonly played is in response to partner’s takeout double of an opponent’s weak two opening bid. In a related article, we will explore the important differences between Lebensohl in that situation and the method described here.
Lebensohl was originally credited to a successful bridge player in the 70's named Ken Lebensold. He denied any responsibility though, possibly foreseeing the thousands of Lebensohl bidding accidents to come. The misattribution has persisted ever since.
© Jeff Tang. All Rights Reserved.