Is this Lebensohl?

#1 Adam1105

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Posted 2012-February-24, 21:56

I'm East and my Partner is West:

East 1♣ South Pass West 1♦ North Pass
East 1NT South 2♥ West 3♥ North DBL
East (-----)

My partner's (West) bid of 3♥ ended up meaning "I don't have hearts."

Is this Lebensohl even though I did not open 1NT?

#2 jillybean

hooked

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Posted 2012-February-24, 22:07

It's not Leb for me.

"And no matter what methods you play, it is essential, for anyone aspiring to learn to be a good player, to learn the importance of bidding shape properly." MikeH

#3 BunnyGo

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Posted 2012-February-24, 22:08

Adam1105, on 2012-February-24, 21:56, said:

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Don't get caught up in "the name", rather the meaning. It's trying to find the best place to play, and asking for a heart stopper. It's not Lebensohl, but it does have some not dissimilar qualities.

Bridge Personality: 44 44 43 34

Never tell the same lie twice. - Elim Garek on the real moral of "The boy who cried wolf"

#4 aguahombre

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Posted 2012-February-24, 22:32

Not Leben. 2NT would have been a cousin of Leben (a weak scramble in the minors). 3H is a game-forcing noise, and it is yet unclear whether responder has clubs and diamonds, or just a lot of diamonds. Neither 3C nor 3D would have established the game force.

3H is not needed to be strictly a stopper ask, but opener is allowed to look at her hand and bid 3NT if it seems appropriate, after which responder will probably continue in a minor (slammish), but might pass.

"Bidding Spades to show spades can work well." (Kenberg)

#5 Zelandakh

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Posted 2012-February-27, 01:55

A nice general rule for strange cue bids of the opponents' suit where another meaning is not obvious (such as UCB, etc) is to treat the bid exactly like fourth suit forcing - a stopper ask that may be used as a general game force with other hand types. This gives the bid a useful meaning for non-regular partnerships without needing to go into details. There are better ways to play in regular partnerships of course.

(-: Zel :-)

#6 barmar

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Posted 2012-February-27, 16:40

For the benefit of people having trouble reading Adam's original bidding diagram:

Please use the hand diagram tool instead of making up your own notation.

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