See also: Glossary of contract bridge terms. Lebensohl is a contract bridge convention whose variants can be used in the following situations:
The origins of the convention are unknown and various views about its spelling have ensued.
The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (OEB) first listed LEBENSOHL in its third edition published in 1976 and attributed its design to George Boehm; the fourth OEB edition, under the entry LEBENSOLD, states that George Boehm first described the convention and that Boehm had wrongly attributed it to Ken Lebensold; the fifth and sixth editions state likewise but under LEBENSOHL. In the seventh edition and for the first time, the OEB notes "Uniquely amongst bridge conventions, it should arguably be spelled with a lowercase first letter – lebensohl."
In another account,[1] Lebensohl is said to have been observed in use in the late 1960s and...
The November 1970 Bridge World article by Boehm was the first published on Lebensohl[2] but he does not attribute the convention to Ken Lebensold in it. However, Boehm does recount that in preparation for a competition in New York in late 1969, his convention card had the entry "Lebensohl when you overcall our notrump opening". Ken Lebensold was also a competitor at the event and upon reviewing Boehm's convention card, "disowned the convention". Boehm goes on to state that therefore he and his playing partner (son, Augie) "have decided to designate it "lebensohl" and to continue to use it without fee or license".[2] Notwithstanding Boehm naming and spelling it uncapitalized, most bridge literature refers to the convention as Lebensohl with occasional post-1970 use of Lebensold going uncorrected.
Lebensohl can be initiated by Responder after partner has opened 1NT and right hand opponent (RHO) has overcalled 2 or 2 or 2:
| Responder holds | bid strain@2level | 2NT-3 relay, then bid strain@3level | bid strain@3level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+cardSuit available at 2level (ladder allows 3 ways to show this suit): | To play | Invite | GameForce | |
| 5+cardSuit NOT available at 2level (ladder allows only 2 ways to show this suit): | - | less than GameForce | GameForce | |
| No 4+cardMajor GameForce strength | - | 3NT, slow shows† stopper | 3NT, fast denies† stopper |
| Responder's Bid | Meaning and Subsequent Bidding | |
| 2 of a higher ranking suit than overcaller's | Natural and non-forcing. | |
| 2NT | A puppet bid (sometimes incorrectly called a “relay bid”), requiring opener to bid 3. After opener's forced 3 bid:
| |
| Natural, forcing to game. | ||
| Artificial: like Stayman, it asks opener to bid a 4-card major, but it also denies† a stopper in overcaller's suit. | ||
| 3NT | Natural, to play, and denies† a stopper in overcaller's suit. |
†These explanations assume the most common partnership agreement that “slow shows”, i.e., that the slower sequences, which start with 2NT, show a stopper in overcaller’s suit, while the more direct sequences deny a stopper. This is sometimes alternatively described as FADS - fast arrival denies stopper. Some partnerships adopt the opposite agreement (“slow denies” and "fast shows" a stopper).
Responder's double is not part of lebensohl. Historically a double in this spot indicated "penalty", however modern methods use it for a Negative double since a 4cardMajor hand with 4+p occurs far more frequently than a penalty double hand. This assignment also simplifies the lebensohl system by making its GameForceStayman cuebid unnecessary.
After a Weak2 opening is doubled for takeout, there's not enough ladder room for Advancer's natural bids to convey critical information to Doubler. lebensohl solves this problem by restoring all the necessary bid messages.
| Responder holds | bid strain@2level | 2NT-3 relay, then bid strain@3level | bid strain@3level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4+cardSuit available at 2level (ladder allows 3 ways to show this suit): | 0-7p | 8-11p and FOUR cards | 8-11p and FIVE+ cards | |
| 4+cardSuit NOT available at 2level (ladder allows only 2 ways to show this suit): | - | 0-7p | 8-11p | |
| 4card Major GameForce (Stayman) | - | CUE, slow shows† stopper | CUE, fast denies† stopper | |
| No 4+cardMajor GameForce strength | - | 3NT, slow shows† stopper | 3NT, fast denies† stopper |
Example 1: After (2) - Dbl - (P):
Example 2: There is space to bid a suit at the 2 level; e.g. after (2) - Dbl - (P) and the suit held is spades:
With a very strong hand (typically 20+ points) the doubler can by-pass 3.
The same scheme can be played after the sequence:(1M) - P - (2M) - Dbl; (P) - ? or (1M) - Dbl - (2M) - ?
After the sequence 1 - (P) - 1 - (P); 2 - (P) - ?:
This has the effect of saving space when responder wants to force game and show support. A disadvantage is that responder cannot stop in 2NT with a misfit.