Rubinsohl (also referred to as Rubensohl) is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

convention that can be used to counter an opponent's intervention over a 1NT opening bid. After opponent's two-level

overcall In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...

, all bids starting from 2NT are transfer bids to the next strain.

Origins

The concept was introduced by Bruce Neill of Australia in a Bridge World magazine article in May 1983. Because he had based his concept on earlier work by

Jeff Rubens Jeff Rubens (born 1941) is an American bridge player, editor, and writer of books including ''Secrets of Winning Bridge'' and ''Expert Bridge Simplified''. He is best known for long association with ''The Bridge World'' monthly magazine, as co-edit ...

Rubens Advances Rubens advances (also referred to as transfer advances) constitute a bridge bidding method that can be used by a bridge partnership to respond to overcalls. The method was devised by Jeff Rubens and published in The Bridge World ''The Bridge Worl ...

and on

Lebensohl Lebensohl is a contract bridge convention whose variants can be used in the following situations: * by responder after an opponent's overcall of a one notrump (1NT) opening bid in order to compete further in the auction without necessarily committ ...

, Neill named the treatment Rubensohl. However, from the fifth edition in 1994 onwards,

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League ...

notes that

Ira Rubin Ira Rubin (1930 – February 6, 2013) was an American professional contract bridge player. Rubin attended the Bronx High School of Science and later New York University. Rubin lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Fair Lawn and resided in nearby Paramus, ...

of the United States had devised similar methods earlier to replace Lebensohl and "...so Rubinsohl seems the appropriate name".

Applications

When playing Rubinsohl, the following applies after an opposing 2 (natural)

over partner's 1NT opening: 1NT - (2) - ?? :dbl : penalty :2/ : to play :2NT : transfer to 3 :3 : transfer to opponent's suit -> asks for four card major :3 : transfer to hearts (at least invitational) :3 : transfer to spades (at least invitational) :3 : transfer to 3NT -> game values but no major suit and no stopper in opponent's suit :3NT : to play Similar schedules apply following a natural two-level overcall in any of the other suits. Unlike Lebensohl, the partner of the 1NT opener can indicate his long suit at the first bid; this can be advantageous in competitive auctions. The same transfer schedule can also be used following a conventional overcall over 1NT as long as this overcall indicates an anchor suit. For instance: following an Asptro 2 overcall (showing and another suit) over partner's 1NT opening, the bids 2NT, 3 and 3 would be transfers to the next strain, whilst 3 would be an asking bid. Partnerships that have agreed to use Rubinsohl often extend its use to include responses to partner's takeout double over an opposing weak two opening. For instance: (2) - dbl - (pass) - ?? :pass = penalty :2 : to play :2NT : transfer to clubs (weak or strong) :3 : transfer to diamonds (weak or strong) :3 : asking bid :3 : transfer to spades (at least invitational) :3 : transfer to 3NT -> game values but no major suit and no stopper in opponent's suit :3NT : to play

References

{{WPCBIndex Bridge conventions

Origins

Applications

See also

References