[elwood913]

Hi,

I'm ready to take the plunge and learn lebensohl. I'm wondering what source I should use. I have learned most of my conventions from Modern Bridge Conventions and would be happy to learn lebensohl from this, too, but before I got started wanted to make sure it wasn't out of date. Though Root and Pavlicek do make some mention of systematic interference, I think at the time of their writing they were still dealing mostly with natural bidding as interference over your NT, so their discussion of lebensohl has this as its basis. Is there a better source for lebensohl, or something extra I can look at, or is MBC's treatment still good?

Thanks, Bill

[ArcLight]

Ron Anderson's The Lebensohl Convention Complete is best book on the subject. It covers how to use it against 2 suited overcalls.

It also discusses using it against enemy weak 2s, and pards Reverses.

It covers Lebensohl in more depth than Pavliceks book (which is an excellent book).

[pclayton]

I don't think the mechanics of Lebensohl have changed in the last 25 years.

Modern Bridge Conventions is only about 15 years old, so its up to date on Lebensohl.

[ralph23]

MBC is good and as I recall it does discuss leb when the NT opener's LHO intervenes with one of those pesky two=suited bids.

Also you can find info on the WW Web but as always be careful with such... but I always look there as well when adopting any convention...

[Stephen Tu]

Quote

Modern Bridge Conventions is only about 15 years old, so its up to date on Lebensohl.

MBC is far older than that, copyright is 1981. Maybe it was reprinted in '92 but the content wasn't changed AFAIK. But the treatment of Lebensohl over NT interference hasn't changed. Doesn't delve into using it over partner's doubles of weak 2s though, IIRC.

[P_Marlowe]

Hi,

Lebensohl after our side opens 1 NT is a Convention for
handling intervention of an one suiter, i.e. even if Pavlicek/Root
deal only with natural intervention this is sufficient.

A description of Lebensohl can be found in Marshall Miles
"Competive Bidding for the 21st century", and he also
describes other scenarios in which the Lebensohl mechanistics
can be used.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[neilkaz]

ArcLight, on Aug 26 2007, 01:12 PM, said:

Ron Anderson's The Lebensohl Convention Complete is best book on the subject. It covers how to use it against 2 suited overcalls.

It also discusses using it against enemy weak 2s, and pards Reverses.

It covers Lebensohl in more depth than Pavliceks book (which is an excellent book).

Superb book and I suggest that your PD's read it as well .. neilkaz ..

[Double !]

I recall first hearing about some convention called Lebensohl during the SummerNABCs in Boston in 1970. (There was also a very fine player named Ken Lebensold who reportedly consistently denied being the author of the convention. As the story went at the time, he reportedly refused to play it!) The intent of the convention now and at that time was to try to distinguish between game-going and competitive bids at the 3-level after P had opened 1NT and rho overcalled. The extensions of the convention to responses to doubles of wk 2 bids as well as being the basis for the Good-Bad 2NT convention have been presented.

My experiences with playing traditional Leb have been that the convention works well as long as responder to the overcall doesn't bid. If the responder does bid, and you are above the level of 3 of your suit, then some problems arise, especially if the partnership doesn't have agreements regarding the minimum high card or defensive values need to make a Leb bid. I have been wondering whether or not it might be more effective to make an immediate bid of 3 of a suit competitive, and to first use Leb. to show a game-going hand (possibly making it more risky for lho to bid more.

Interested in feedback!

DHL

After