There is a convention called Rubensohl, you may notice it sounds a bit like Lebensohl. They are similar as they are both used in the same context.
When is Rubensohl used?
When our side opens 1NT, and the opponents compete, so, for example say you have this hand.
In this context, I recommend the following toolbox of bids
First, double
This is general principles, not Rubensohl specific.
It's important to understand that we want to find fits in bridge, don't be focused on penalties at an early stage in the auction.
Also, about 80% of auctions are about the partscore, and not about game. For example, lets put these cards to the auction
Partner has 15-17 points, in total we have around 21-23 points - this is about partscore and not getting overboard (see Bidding Bible - Part 3 - Going positive). We want to compete, and then just keep the contract low, a great approach would be to double, and just pass partner's response.
Most hands are about competing for the part score - keep that in front of mind, especially if you are someone who has "penalty" and "game" in the front of mind always.
Now that double is out of the way, what are our other bids?
There is a simple pattern - all bids show the next suit up (with exception of 3♠).
2NT is regular Lebensohl, the rest are Rubensohl bids.
| 2NT | Regular Lebensohl |
| 3♣ | Diamonds 5+, invitational or better |
| 3♦ | Hearts, 5+ invitational or better |
| 3♥ | Spades 5+ invitational or better |
| 3♠ | Clubs 5+, invitational or better |
2 level bids should just be simple not forcing bids, natural.
For example,
We just simply show our spade suit, often playing in 2♠.
How does the 1NT opener respond to those?
With a hand that is minimum and does not want to accept the invite, just simply accept the transfer - partner might pass this.
For example
Here partner has shown an invite in spades. Your hand is minimum with bad spades, so you show that by just accepting the transfer.
With 3+ of partner's suit, accept the invite.
So lets change our majors around
This is an easy accept, its not about our point count as much as our spade support.
Transferring to their suit
If we transfer to their suit = Asks for a stopper / denies a stopper but shows enough points for game.
Don't go looking for a minor suit unless there is a strong reason to. With balanced hands aim for NO trump, not for 5♣ or 5♦.
Don't get carried away with using these bids, only show a minor if you particularly want to play in the minor, think very unbalanced hands, singletons etc. With balanced hands and points for game, typically look for No trump.
Example of denying a stopper
Here we transfer to the opponent's suit, spades - showing enough points for game but no stopper. The main message to partner is, please bid 3NT if you can, I have a balanced'ish hand, that wants to play in 3NT, but no spade stopper.
Contrast with this, lets say we change our clubs and spades, so now we have a spade stopper
We do the simple and effective thing of bidding 3NT - only use system if you have to, otherwise do the simple thing if possible.
Summary and recommendation
I think Rubensohl is an effective tool to use, and I recommend it because I think it is quite simple - mostly it is just remembering that you play "transfer" style bids. It doesn't require constant revision, or remembering obscure continuations.
The main challenge is to remember you play it at all.
When our side opens 1NT, remember that usually we have a system bid if the opponents bid (similar to if they don't bid).
In other words, the lightbulb moment should happen as soon as you open 1NT, get ready to alert partner's bid, whether the opponents interfere or not.
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