I will be illustrating Lebensohl. Not everyone plays it, but there have been lectures on it so it seems fair to give an example.
I gave you my hand on another thread, this time I give you the hand opposite mine:
Everyone vulnerable, partner deals and opens 1NT, 15-17, and assume for the moment that RHO bids a natural 2
.
You hold
Got any good ideas? Presumably 3
is some form of Staymn, but suppose partner does not have four hearts. What then?
Ok, suppose we are playing Lebensohl. Then you can bid an immediate 3
, Stayman without a stopper. Leb is earning its keep here since partner will know that you have four hearts and that you do not have a spade stopper. Whether or not this hand is strong enough for that action is a close call.
BUT! The above was hypothetical. This is what really happened;
After 1NT, RHO doubled, which as they play shows a single suited hand. Now you can, and do, bid 2
Stayman. Your LHO passes, your partner bids 2
denying a four card major, and RHO now bids 2
, showing her suit.
We have gained considerably from their conventional bid! We have settled the matter of a major suit fit, we don't have one. But now what?
Is 3
still forcing? I say "still" because over the direct 1NT-(2
) it would be.
After thinking about this for a while, I think it should be. After all, on this auction you could just as easily have, say,
You would ten like 3
to be forcing, right? Maybe the hand belongs in 3NT, maybe in 5
, but it does not belong in 3
. Not likely anyway.
So, imo, if we play Leb after the direct 1NT- (2
), and we do play it, then I think we should still be playing Leb after this delayed 2
.
So let's assume so. You can now bid a direct 3
, forcing to game, or a slow 3
by way of Lebensohl. Partner will usually pass this but since you chose to bid 2
over the X partner will figure you have at least something, so he might sometimes go on. Or so I think.
I think I would choose the slow route and sign off in 3
.
The hands could have been:
Then 5
rolls in.
The hands were:
Oh well.
This hand, I think, shows Lebensohl at its best. There are still choices to be made, no way to avoid that. But if the N hand is a bit better then surely we want ot be in 5
, if it is a little worse then clearly we want to be in 3
On the hands as they are, I think stopping in 3
is fine.