Sunday, October 23, 2005 6:59 PM

Lebensohl - 4 level majors

PITBULLS:

The fact that you play Lebensohl at the four level determines what type of action you take at these rarified high levels. Lebensohl is a nice “safety net” to encourage using a more flexible bid , the double in cramped quarters. BJ Trelford made a tactical bid recently which shows how handy these Lebensohl understandings are .

I opened 3♠ nv vrs nv and BJ up the ante to 4♠ by making a pre-emptive re-raise.

The opponents in these pressure auctions were put in the usual bid situations that pre-empts create , do you double or bid your suit ? The double is a far more flexible bid if you have defense , because the opponents at these high levels can just choose to defend. My RHO hold Axx AK AKJxxx xx so what do you do after BJ’s tactical 4♠ bid ? Without Lebensohl understandings , you might really distort the strength of your hand with a 5♦ bid. Partner will never imagine your defensive strength when you make this bid and you have rescued the opponents from disaster. Partner will think your 5♦ bid is made on distribution and really long diamonds. The 4♠ bid may have bid by BJ to make 4♠. Ambiguity reigns supreme in these confusing auctions.

What if you had Lebensohl understandings though ? This is a win-win situation for a double. If partner bids her suit after your double , it shows values and you may reach a slam in NT or diamonds. If partner chooses to pass , the opponents will be appropriately punished with all your defensive strength. If partner has a weak hand with her own suit , she will relay to 5♣ and you break the relay with a 5♦ bid and you have at least given partner some idea about the strength of your hand.

Partner held a huge playing hand on this auction . xx Q109xx x AKQ10x and as it turns out can not lose on this auction after a double by partner. If he chooses to pass 4♠X , the contract goes 5 down for –1100. If this hand bids a suit directly , the cards are friendly and 7NT makes without a finesse. A suggested auction would be to bid 5♠ after the double which usually shows two suiters in these types of auctions. The opponents have shown a possible 7-3 spade fit , so partners spade shortness is a good bet. Partner bids 6♦ and you convert to 6♥ which shows a two suiter in hearts and clubs. Partner converts to 6NT and plays it there with an overtrick. The worst result on the hand is what actually happened at the table. RHO bid 5♦ directly and went down one with a 5-1 diamond break !!

Tactical bidding makes life difficult for the opponents as that is its purpose. To help combat these pressure tactics , tools like Lebensohl are a must in my opinion. Do not leave home without Lebensohl understandings after the opponents major suit bids at the 4 level and doubles.