The Lebensohl Convention

Situation: Your partner opens One Notrump -- you're ready to say 2§ , but your RHO says 2©.    Now what ?

Opponents at duplicate DO overcall One Notrump openers, more often than you would think. This is because they have conventions to do so, as we do. (See Brozel Convention)

The Problem. The basic problem in dealing with a Notrump Overcall is that we have trouble using our two normal conventions -- Stayman and Jacoby Transfers.

The convention we use to combat such overcalls is called Lebensohl. It is actually a set of conventions under that name -- the originator.

The Solution. Lebensoh lets us find our major suit fits, bid 3NT, quit at a 3 level minor contract, etc. It's quite complex, as there are lots of things we want to do over No Trump that are cramped by the *&^%$#@ overcall. (This is a clue why you should overcall NT openers if possible.)

Let's use the following sequence as a starting point:

N        E         S        W

1NT    2©   . . .

In this case, the Heart bid is natural, showing Hearts only. South needs to bid something.

What?

First: Any Two-level bid by South is to play, e.g., 2ª in this example.

Second: a Double call is for penalty. .

[1NT - © - Dbl] in this example means South wants to punish 2 Hearts.

Third: A 2NT call by South is artificial and requires opener to bid 3§. This is called a 'puppet'.  South may then pass if 3§ seems the best contract from his point of view. If responder puppets opener to 3§ and then bids 3NT, he HAS a Heart stopper.  [1NT - 2© - 2NT* - P - 3§ - P - 3NT] in our example shows a Heart stopper and game values.

Fourth: A direct jump to 3NT shows a hand that would have bid 3NT without interference, with one very important difference -- 3NT DENIES a Heart stopper in this example.

(The easy rule to remember is 'DIRECT DENIES', meaning any direct 3NT or cue bid denies a stopper in the overcaller's suit. By implication than, an indirect sequence shows a stopper.)

Fifth: Any three level bid directly over 2© is game forcing and natural. In a major, [1NT - 2© - 3ª - . . .] in this example, it would guarantee 5+ cards just like a Jacoby Transfer.  3§ or 3¨ direct would not be Stayman, and denies any 4+ major suit.

Sixth: A direct cue bid is Stayman, showing the other major suit. [1NT - 2© - 3©] in our example sequence, and DENIES a Heart stopper. ('Direct denies'.)

Seventh: An indirect cue bid, via the puppet to 3§, is Stayman WITH a stopper. [1NT - 2© - 2NT* - P 3§* - P - 3© . . .] in our example.

Whew! This seems like a lot of rules, but it's necessary to have some convention to deal with interference.

With all these choices, if South passes, he truly has nothing to say .

Over artificial overcalls, partnerships have to work out some agreements. For example, if [1NT - 2§ -  . . .] shows Clubs and Hearts, as a Brozel bid would, what do the responder's (South's) bids then mean?

We bid as though the overcaller had bid two of the implied major.

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Example Lebensohl Bidding Sequences

N	E	S	W
1NT	2§	DBL	. . .		To penalize opponents at Clubs.
1NT	2§	2NT*	P
3§*	P	3NT	. . .		3NT values with a Club stopper.
1NT	2ª	3ª	. . .		Game values, Stayman, no Spade stopper.
1NT	2©	3§	. . .		Game values, not Stayman, real Clubs
1NT	2©	2NT*	P
3§*	P	P	. . .		A weak stop in Clubs.
1NT	2©	3NT	. . .		Game values; not 4+ Spades, no Heart Stopper
1NT	2¨	3©	. . .		Game force; 5+ Hearts.