Notes From The Tiger’s Cave

Elementary Thoughts on Declaring “Riichi” In Japanese Mahjong…

The most common form of Japanese mahjong is called “riichi maajan” (commonly rendered in English as “reach mahjong”). Like many other things, mahjong did not originate in Japan, but the Japanese imported it (from China) and then set about improving and perfecting the game. The result was “riichi mahjong”.

Riichi mahjong has several features which are absent in the original Chinese game. For example, in the Chinese game, everybody tosses their discard tiles into the centre of the table, but in the Japanese game you have to line up your discards in an orderly row in front of you. Your discard row provides the other players with useful information about what you are doing with your hand. Also, you cannot complete your hand with another player’s discard tile if the tile is the same as one of your own discarded tiles. This adds a dimension of calculation to the game that is absent in the Chinese version.

In addition, in the Japanese “riichi” game a player can “buy the right” to complete his hand on another player’s discard by paying 1,000 points and declaring, “Riichi!” Once you have declared “riichi” you cannot change your hand, so when it is your turn, if you have declared “riichi” and you don’t need the tile that you take from the wall, you have to discard it no matter how risky it may be.

So why would you want to go “riichi”?

Because you may have a hand that is ready to complete, but which lacks any special combinations (called “yaku” in Japanese). Building “yaku” into your hand gives you the right to go out on another player’s discard tile and also increases the value of your hand.

So, if you do not have any “yaku”, you might want to “pay for a yaku” by declaring “riichi” in the hope that someone will discard the tile you need.

Here are some other reasons why you might declare “riichi”:

1. to increase the value of your hand. You may already have one or two “yaku” in your hand, and one or two bonus tiles. By declaring “riichi” you may be able to get your score up into a higher bracket and earn more points if you go out.

2. to gain access to the “ura dora”. At the beginning of every hand of mahjong a tile (”mekuri-pai”) is turned over in the tile wall to indicate a random “bonus tile”. The bonus tile is the “next one up” in the same suit as the “mekuri-pai” - so if it is the 3-of-Coins, then the bonus tile will be the 4-of-Coins and so on. If you declare “riichi” and complete your hand, you can also use the tile underneath the “mekuri-pai” (i.e. the “ura dora”) as another bonus-indicator.

3. to frighten the opposition. Maybe your hand is not worth much, but it can sometimes be an effective strategy to bluff by declaring “riichi”. Maybe the other players will be afraid of giving you the tile you need and so will be forced to break up their hand in order to discard “safe” tiles. (Note, this tactic can backfire if not used with discretion…)

4. to take advantage of “kan”. Sometimes players declare 4-of-a-kind combinations. This is called “kan”. When a “kan” is declared, the player takes a tile from the back of the wall and adds it to his hand (to make up for the tile that was melded to make “kan”). When this happens, another “mekuri-pai” is turned over. Now, if you declare “riichi” and complete your hand, you will be able to check two “ura dora” tiles for potential bonus points in your hand. This increases your chances of getting a “lucky” high score. It can also be intimidating to the opposition if you declare “riichi” in response to somebody else’s “kan”.

5. to psychologically “crush” an opponent who has just declared “riichi”… This is a risky move, but it is often worth holding back a “riichi” declaration until somebody else declares “riichi”. By immediately declaring “riichi” after another player has declared, you deflate the impact of their declaration - and if you go out first the other player may feel that the luck is not with him, and how you FEEL in mahjong can be crucial to winning or losing…

These are just some very basic tactics for declaring “riichi” in Japanese mahjong. Mahjong is an intensely fluid game and therefore very tactical. If you want to improve your game it is essential that you learn to be observant and flexible in your approach. Even something as simple as declaring “riichi” is fraught with tactical implications depending on the particular situation at the moment when you are ready to declare.