[easy]

There are zillions of treatment with regard to lebensohl. some use it over weak 2's. over reverses, over strong jump shifts and in the original form over bids over an opening nt. (And surely in other situations that im no aware of)

in another thread it was mentioned that in the auction

1n p p 2H
p  p  3c?  
    that lebensohl applied. My first reaction was HUH, but then after i thought about it i decided ok it's a possibility. It could be useful to differentiate between a 4-6 point hand and a 7-8 point hand (assuming 15-17 nt range.)

I personally dont play lebensohl in the balance seat therefore for me 3c simply says i have a shot at makeing 3C. But....... i dont play 2n as natural. I play that is a hand with the minors. such as

x  xx  kxxxx  qjxxx,  or some other confiiguration that i chose not to bid with over 1nt but wish to compete after opponents have balanced.

Do most play lebensohl in this balancing situation?

And what about the auction

2s  p   p   x
p   2N          is this lebensohl or to play? I play its natural what do u do?

[inquiry]

Hi.

I may have been the one who suggest the hypothetical lebehnshol auction you mention (to explain why dbl of 3H might be based on expecting a better hand by partner).

However, I don't play the given auction as lebehnshol. Here is what I play....

1N-P-P-2H
 P-P-?

I play balance double as takeout, I play 2NT as minor two suiter (maybe 4-4), and 3C as competitive, to play. There is little need to try to seperate between good and bad hands with lebehnsol, since the balancer was not interested in game over 1NT so a "good/bad" kind of 2NT is unnecessary.

However, on
2S-P-P-X
P-2N

I play 2NT on this auction as "lebehnshol". Thus if partner bids 3C or 3D instead of 2NT, he is showing some values (bid 2NT wiith weaker hands). However if the bidding had been....

P-2S-P-P
X-P-2N

This is no longer lebehnshol but rather scrambling (what you called for minors). The reason being, partner (the dbl) and I have both passed once. Just like the hand above, we are no longer looking for possible game, just a good part score.

[keylime]

Leb is definitely a must have - am considering integrating transfer Leb into Key Lime Precision Version 10 (see website for more details along with my article on the forcing pass).

Ron Anderson if memory serves wrote an excellent text of Leb and I highly recommend it. Alas, like all things, discussion with partner is most important.

[Yzerman]

I personally dont think that lebensohl applies in balancing seat.  You have forgone your opportunity to bid at your first available opportunity hence all bids are natural and non-forcing constructive (there are some NT openers that partner may bid 3N with).  Double should be takeout and everything else natural.

**  I qualify this with the NT opener is allowed to make a takeout double of the opps suit if he has the right texture. **

[mishovnbg]

General idea: to play contract from better hand

Method:
1. If better partner to play use Rubensohl.
2. If better you play, use Lebensohl.

Simple rule: Must lead opp that show suit for lead/strength.

Examples:
1. 1NT - (2S) - 3C=D=Rubensohl - ....
2. 1C - p - 1H - (2S)
   3C=Lebensohl=Good/bad 2NT

[Rado]

There are at least 2 excellent books where the Lebensohl theme is thoroughly examined and described:
1. Parthership Bidding at bridge- by Andrew Robson and OliverSeagal
2. Better bidding with Bergen part II - by Marty Bergen

One good practical advice from there:
If both opponents have bid without our intervention we assume they've shown min 18-19 p combined strength (and our game already is not so probable) and 2NT should be "Scrambling"=2 or 3 places to play
for ex: 1S-p-2S-DBL
           p - ?
here 2NT is scrambling 4-4 in 2 suits ouside S, or 4S333
(with H suit still may distinguish good bid via direct 3H and bad bid through slow 2NT-any-3H, keeping the chances for evaluation of our H game)

On the contrary if 2nd opponent bids after our action, especially when fitting his Partner then opponets might show weaker combined strentgh based on good fit only (and our game remains enough probable) and there 2NT should be Lebensohl oriented
for ex: 1S-DBL-2S - ?
here 2NT=Lebensohl willing to compete only(5-7 points 5 card suit, while direct bid on level 3 is full balance (8-11 points)

[luis]

I prefer to play Rubensohl, responder 3x bids are transfers so the balanced hand doesn't have to "find" a bid, he can simply accept the transfer and then respoder can bid again describing his hand so the balanced hand can act with more information.

Example
AKxx, AQxx,  KJx, xx -  Qxxx, x, AQxxx , AQx
1NT (2h nat)  3c(*)
3d                  3s
And now you can cuebid 4h and will probably find a 6s slam in the good 4-4 suit.  Playing leb after a positive 3d bid many will bid 3n because the balanced hand was forced to bid with very little information available.,