Lebansol Movie

[lioncub]

This is a Lin Bridge Movie. For a Text version, see the Articles Section.

[sallyally]

Many thanks for this excellent description of lebensohl. I know it takes a lot of work to do this.

[chris]

In the sequence:
W N E S
1NT 2 2NT
pas 3 pas 3

S shows a heart guard. But what about 4 cars in spades? No matter whether S have got 4 spades?

[1eyedjack]

	Quote:	chris
	In the sequence: W N E S 1NT 2 2NT pas 3 pas 3 S shows a heart guard. But what about 4 cars in spades? No matter whether S have got 4 spades?

South is showing a heart guard and 4 Spades, not just a heart guard. North bids 3N without 4 Spades, else agrees Spades.
If South has 4 spades without a heart guard he cues 3 directly over the 2 overcall. Then North bids 3N with a heart guard but without 4 spades, or agrees Spades if he has 4 spades, or settles for a minor suit with neither heart guard nor 4 spades.
Hope that helps

[chris]

Thanks Jack
can you show the action over the sequence like that below:
N E S W
1NT 2 3(Stayman)
pas ?

[chris]

	Quote:	chris
	Thanks Jack can you show the action over the sequence like that below: N E S W 1NT 2 3(Stayman) pas ?

pas over 3C is Bidden by N (sorry for my bad edition)

[1eyedjack]

Hi Chris

Playing Lebensohl over a natural 1N-2 overcall has problems, because there is no cue bid via 2N available, to distinguish between stayman with a guard v stayman without.

There is more than one possible solution to this, but I do not know which is standard (or even if there IS a standard, of the options available).

Possibly the simplest is to say that the direct 3 cue does not commit to the possession or denial of a guard, but in response to that cue, opener bids 3 without a guard (regardless of whether or not a major is held) and all other bids are natural but promise a guard. Over 3 you then start to investigate a major fit, but responder then knows whether to pull 3N if no major is found (ie if he also has no guard).

Fortunately this problem is rare, because in competitive bridge few opponents use the 2 overcall as a natural bid, so the "cue" would tend to be some other suit. Unfortunately (possibly because of its rarety) it is seldom discussed by partnerships before it comes up at the table. It is one of those things that needs to be discussed, as there is no single right answer.

A while back I wrote a series of 3 articles on Lebensohl which are in this forum's archives in the "bidding" section. The first discusses the basics. The second discusses the problems (of which this is just one example), and the third discusses alternatives to Lebensohl. They are written as bland text files (not fancy Lin movies) but may be of help. I am sorry to say that I haven't watched the Lin movie that is the subject of the original post in this thread, so I cannot promise that my opinions are consistent with that movie.