Lebensohl

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You will see mention of Lebensohl, Transfer Lebensohl (aka Rubensohl, but they're notidentical), and extensions to the Lebensohl concept on almost every single page in this site, and with very good reason. This page aims to pull together most of the main uses of Lebensohl under one roof for easy reference, even though bits of it are covered fairly fully elsewhere as well.

The system makes heavy use of Lebensohl and extensions to it that Jason Hackett and I devised because, for our money, Lebensohl is one of the most brilliant and useful bidding concepts ever devised and should form a part of every pair's arsenal of conventions. Put simply Standard Lebensohl enables Responder to compete effectively and precisely in almost any situation when his partner's Opening 1NT bid is overcalled, disrupting the normal scheme of Stayman and Transfers, or whatever else you have in place.

The key element of all versions and varieties of Lebensohl is the 2NT-3 sequence, the 3 bid being 100% forced and the 2NT bid saying nothing whatever about responder's hand, but simply telling Opener to bid 3. This creates three kinds of sequences: These concepts apply to every version and variety of Lebensohl, although there are slightly different nuances in some of the extensions to Lebensohl.

Standard Lebensohl

As stated above the original and standard use of Lebensohl is when opponents overcall your partner's 1NT Opening. Although my reccommendation is that you play Transfer Lebensohl in this situation, I will explain standard Lebensohl first, because the concepts involved are easier to follow in basic Lebensohl and they are used elsewhere in the system (eg: in other competitive sequences not involving a 1NT Opener). The scheme for "standard" Lebensohl is as follows: Thus Lebensohl permits responder to compete or force in any suit, and to invite in any suit higher-ranking than the opponents' suit. It allows Responder to show or deny 4-card interest in any unbid Major suits (ie: a sort of Stayman) and at the same time to show or deny a stop in the opponents' suit.

Some examples (opponents' interference shown in brackets):
Sequence
Explanation
1NT-(2)-2 Purely competitive and 100% "to play"
1NT-(2)-3 Natural and game-forcing. Bidding proceeds naturally. Responder is neither promising or denying a stop in Hearts
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3 This is just competitive in Diamonds, because Diamonds could not have been bid at the 2-level
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3 This is invitational in Spades, because Spades could have been bid at the 2-level competitively
1NT-(2)-3 A "fast" cue bid, showing values for 3NT, 4-card Spades and denying a stop in Hearts
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3 A "slow" cue-bid, showing values for 3NT, 4-card Spades and promising a stop in Hearts
1NT-(2)-3NT A "fast" 3NT, showing values to play there, denying 4-card Spades and denying a stop in Hearts. This is normally a long 6-card Minor (but doesn't have to be).
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3NT A "slow" 3NT, showing values to play there, denying 4-card Spades and promising a Heart stop.

Transfer Lebensohl

If standard Lebensohl suffers from one defect, it is that Responder can only invite in suits that are higher-ranking than the opponents' suit. Transfer Lebensohl overcomes most of these potential problems. Using Transfer Lebensohl, when opponents overcall a 1NT Opening at the 2-level, then action by Responder is as follows: Some examples of Transfer Lebensohl (opponents' interference shown in brackets):
Sequence
Explanation
1NT-(2)-2 Purely competitive and 100% "to play" (no different to standard Leb)
1NT-(2)-3 A Transfer to Spades either weak or strong, but in practice will always be strong, since Spades could have been bid competitively at the 2-level.
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3 This is invitational in Diamonds.
1NT-(2)-3-3 This is a transfer to Diamonds and can be either weak and competitive or forcing, depending on whether or not Responder continues over Opener's 3 bid
1NT-(2)-3 A "fast" cue bid, showing values for 3NT, 4-card Spades and denying a stop in Hearts (ie: transferring into Hearts
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3 A "slow" cue-bid, showing values for 3NT, 4-card Spades and promising a stop in Hearts. This is identical to normal Lebensohl
1NT-(2)-3NT A "fast" 3NT, showing values to play there, denying 4-card Spades and denying a stop in Hearts. This is normally a long 6-card Minor (but doesn't have to be) and the same as normal Lebensohl.
1NT-(2)-2NT-3-3NT A "slow" 3NT, showing values to play there, denying 4-card Spades and promising a Heart stop. This is identical to normal Lebensohl

As you can see, Transfer Lebensohl allows almost all possible hand-types to be shown. The only exceptions are invitational-strength hands with Clubs and hands with long Clubs and a half-stop in Opponents' suit. You can always show interest in any unbid Major suits and at the same time show or deny a stop in the opponents' suit. Competitive and strong hands can always be shown and the sequences are flexible enough to be able to cope with most contingencies.
Difference Between Transfer Lebensohl and Rubensohl
Transfer Lebensohl and Rubensohl are often treated as the same thing, but there are a number of fairly critical differences between the two systems and they very definitely cannot be interchanged.

Rubensohl

Transfer Lebensohl
OCP uses Transfer Lebensohl rather than Rubensohl.

Extension (1): Transfer Lebensohl over Weak Twos

The easiest extension to Lebensohl to explain is the use of Transfer Lebensohl when partner has made a takeout double of a weak two opened by an opponent in one of the two following positions (Opponents' bids in brackets):
  1. (2x)-X-(Pass)-???, or
  2. (2x)-Pass-(Pass)-X-(Pass)-???
In either of the above situations we are at the 2-level and in a position where partner has shown values and support for the other three suits. We are wanting to compete, invite or force to game and potentially show or deny a stop in their suit and to distinguish between 4-card interest in a suit (usually a major) and a 5-card or longer suit.

In short, either of those sequences above is very similar to 1NT-(2x)-???, and Transfer Lebensohl (or standard Lebensohl) works in exactly the same way as explained above.


As over 1NT, my suggestion would be that Transfer Lebensohl works better because it always allows responder to merely compete, to invite (except in Clubs), and to force, whereas your ability to invite using normal Lebensohl is somewhat limited. A few examples, (opponents bidding in brackets):
Sequence
Explanation
(2)-X-2NT-3-3 Invitational in Diamonds, says nothing about the presence or absence of a Heart stop.
(2)-X-3 A Transfer to Hearts either weak or strong.
(2)-X-3 The "fast" cue-bid, transferring into Spades, showing game values, 4-card Hearts but no Spade stop.
(2)-X-2NT-3-3NT A "slow" 3NT, game values and a good Diamond stop, but no interest in the Major suits.

Extension (2) Competitive Lebensohl

This is a somewhat more flexible and open-ended use of normal Lebensohl and applies in any sequence where both sides are bidding and the bidding has reached the 2-level. This can be both when our side has opened and opponents have overcalled or when we have overcalled their opening. Unless specific provisions are in effect (as over 1 Openings), the following guidelines should be used: This cannot possibly anticipate every kind of competitive sequence, but the general principles will guide you and the scheme is flexible enough that partner will normally realise when your choices are constrained by the opponents' action. A few examples (opponents' bidding in brackets):
Sequence
Explanation
(1)-1-(2)-3 Forcing, showing Diamonds and a decent tolerance for Spades, if not support
(1)-1-(2)-2NT-3-3 Not forcing but merely competitive, decent Diamonds but not much support for Spades
(1)-1-(2)-2NT-3-3 A forcing raise in Spades showing 1st or 2nd round control of Hearts
(1)-1-(2)-2NT-3-3NT A "slow" 3NT, game values and a good Heart stop, but no interest in Spades.

Extension (3) Lebensohl in 3-suited Auctions

The next extension to Lebensohl is when in a natural bidding sequence we have bid 3 of the 4 suits in an unopposed auction (ie: the situation is where we or partner are in a position to make a 4th-suit-force) and the bidding is still at the 2-level with or without a reverse. In practice this applies mostly over One Heart and One Spade Openers, but there is one Two Club sequence where it can apply (2-2-2), and a small number of One Diamond sequences where it might be used (eg: 1-1-2). Lastly, After a 1 Opening and a negative response, a natural sequence that follows might fall into this category, eg: 1-1-1-2-2).

In any of these circumstances 2NT is not a natural bid but Lebensohl, forcing 3 and so creating 'slow' and 'fast' sequences just as in standard Lebensohl. Given this, the following general considerations apply: A few examples:
Sequence
Explanation
1-2-2-3 A "fast" 4th-suit force, interested in clarification of Opener's exact distribution
1-2-2-2NT-3-3 A "slow" 4th-suit force, more interested in whether Opener has a Diamond stop for the purposes of playing in 3NT. Implies good long Clubs and a scant tolerance for Opener's majors but no good support.
1-2-2-2NT-3-3 Invitational in Hearts
1-2-2-3 A forcing raise in Spades. This is mildly slam invitational and inviting cue-bids. A hand stronger than this would have gone via the Forcing No Trump and a Gamma Relay

Other uses of Lebensohl

There are numerous other places where the Lebensohl concept can be utilised to good effect. By this I mean creating "Slow" and "Fast" sequences to give different meanings to the same bids, not necessarily the full use of standard Lebensohl. These include:
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