Lebensohl bridge convention

Return to the Bridge Burglar’s Guide to Bridge Bidding Conventions

The Lebensohl bidding convention is an offensive bidding convention and was designed as a way to deal with interference after a 1 No-Trump opening. There are different ways of playing the convention and it can get very confusing very soon, but here is the most common version. For example, say one partner has opened 1 NT but the first opponent has interfered with a 2 bid. Any responder’s bid could now give rise to confusion. For example, 3 might be Stayman, forcing or weak. And 3 could be signoff or a transfer – which is it? Under the Lebensohl convention, the responder (if he or she has enough values to have responded to the 1 NT opener) automatically gives an artificial reply bid of 2 No-Trump. The opener must then respond 3 . Responder will then pass on a long club suit with few points. A bid below the opponents’ suit is a weak bid. and any bid above the opponents suit ( in this case) is invitational to Game. A cue bid of their suit takes the place of Stayman. Lebensohl takes some practice and it is only recommended for expert, established partnerships.

Return to the Bridge Burglar’s Guide to Bridge Bidding Conventions

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