Lebensohl Responses to a Double of a Weak-two by David

This quiz will describe a wonderful convention used by a big majority of the world's tournament players.

Suppose you have no special methods and RHO opens 2♠. You make a take-out double and partner responds 3♦. What will you do next?

Partner's 3♦ response has an awkwardly wide range, around 0-10. If you bid again with 16 HCPs, you may find him with a very poor hand. You may be doubled somewhere. If instead you pass with your 16 HCP, you may find him with 9 or 10. A good game has been missed.

A clever convention allows you to deal very much better with this situation, caused by the pre-emption of the 2♠ bid:

Lebensohl Responses to a double of a weak-two.
With 0-7 points, you bid 2NT
With 8-10 points, you bid 3♥, 3♦ or 3♣, your best suit
With 11 or more, you bid a game or maybe cue-bid 3♠.

We will see in the quiz how this works out.

Question 1

Your Hand
♠ A Q 7 6
♥ J 8
♦ A J 9 2
♣ K J 3

Q: 1 - You double 2♥ for takeout and partner responds with a Lebensohl 2NT. The initial meaning of this is that he has a weak hand of around 0-7 HCP without any special distribution that would allow him to upgrade his hand.

We have not explained what you should do on the doubler's hand, but can you guess?!

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
Dble	Pass	2NT	Pass
?

A: 3♣. The 2NT bid asks you to rebid 3♣ on most hands. Partner can then pass or sign off in 3♦, telling you of his best suit.

With this hand, your partner is about to pass 3♣. You see how well it works? When he has a bad hand, you can hear about it and can stop low.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 2

Your Hand
♠ Q 5
♥ 8 7 2
♦ Q 10 7 6 2
♣ 10 4 2

Q: 2 - Your two queens put you in the 0-7 weak range. You duly respond 2NT. Partner rebids 3♣. What is your next action?

South	West	North	East
-	2♥	Dble	Pass
2NT	Pass	3♣	Pass
?

A: 3♦. Your 2NT response asked partner to rebid 3♣ (unless he had an especially strong hand). This does not show any length in clubs. He is waiting to hear what your best suit is.

You bid 3♦. Do you see how much better off you are by using Lebensohl responses? You do not have to respond 3♦ on all 0-10 hands with diamonds as your best suit. When you are weak, you can warn your partner before bidding 3♦!

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 3

Your Hand
♠ 8 7 3
♥ Q J 6 2
♦ A 3
♣ Q 10 8 4

Q: 3 - What do you respond to partner's double now?

South	West	North	East
-	2♠	Dble	Pass
?

A: 3♥. Now you are in the 8-10 range and can tell partner of this. When he has a little more than a minimum double, he may wish to bid to the game level.

Both 3♥ and 3♣ now would show 8-10 points. It is natural to respond in the 'other major', since this is the most likely denomination for a game contract your way.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 4

Your Hand
♠ A J 4
♥ J 4
♦ K 10 7 2
♣ Q 9 8 6

Q: 4 - How will you respond to partner's double on this hand?

South	West	North	East
-	2♠	Dble	Pass
?

A: 3NT. You might perhaps like to respond with a natural 2NT. Since you are playing Lebensohl responses, this option is not available.

It is best to respond 3NT. You are only overbidding by a tiny amount and no other response would show your hand more accurately.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Question 5

Your Hand
♠ A Q J 5
♥ 8
♦ A K J 10 7
♣ A 10 6

Q: 5 - You pick up 19 HCP and hear your RHO open 2♥. You have an obvious take-out double and partner responds with a Lebensohl 2NT. What now?

South	West	North	East
-	-	-	2♥
Dble	Pass	2NT	Pass
?

A: 3♦. If you bid 3♣, as partner probably expects, he will pass when his 0-7 hand includes some length in clubs. To prevent this, announcing a good hand in the process, you step past 3♣ and bid your best suit.

This is not forcing, but partner can advance when he is in the upper part of his 0-7 HCP range.

Your result so far:

Open Question

Play this Hand

Now that you've bid five hands, let's see how your play goes.

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Overall Results

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What next? You may enjoy playing our prepared hands series.
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