World Riichi Championship Rules 2015

Rule Book
2015


16/06/2015
Sylvain Malbec

Riichi Competition Rules (EMA 2012) (comparison only)

Editor's note: This version is for comparison with the WRC rules only.
Many chapters have been moved and the index is wrong.

This rule book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
It reuses some text from the EMA Riichi rule book by Tina Christensen.
This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

1Preface

The World Riichi Championship Rules cannot be called to be a "world-wide rule" if not based on competition rules used by major organizations around the world. To achieve that, the rule-sets of the following organizations have been considered while writing the WRCR:
• European Mahjong Association
• 101101競技規定
• Japan Professional Mahjong League日本プロ麻雀連盟
• Korean Mahjong League한국마작연맹은
• Mu Mahjongµ! 麻将連合
• Nihon Pro Mahjong日本プロ麻雀協会
• Real Mahjong Unit
• Saikouisen最高位戦
• United States Professional Mahjong League


Nine organizations, totalling thirteen rule-sets and variants.


Most English-language authors use the terms "chii" and "pon" irrespectively if the group is melded or concealed. This is confusing, since in Japanese language those terms refer only to the action of calling a tile for melding. Considering world championships aim to an international audience, and this document being written in English, the terms "chow", "pung" and "kong" will be used to refer to the corresponding groups since they are already widespread among English speakers and avoid any ambiguity.


The rule has been revised on behalf of the World Riichi Championship Committee:
• David BresnickPresident of the USPML
• Garthe NelsonProfessional Mahjong Player (JPML)
• Gemma SakamotoChairwoman
• Jenn BarrProfessional Mahjong Player (JPML)
• Martin RepAdvisor
• Scott D. MillerEditor of Mahjong News and mahjong scholar
• Shigekazu MoriyamaPresident of the Japan Professional Mahjong League
• Sylvain MalbecAuthor of the World Riichi Championship Rules
• Tina ChristensenPresident of the European Mahjong Association


Blessing of Man is no longer cumulative with other yakus, the precedence and timing for declarations have been reviewed, penalties adjusted, and a lot of the text re-worded.


Sylvain Malbec
30 December 2013
21 May 2014
On behalf of the World Riichi Championship Committee:
16 June 2015

Preface

Riichi (modern Japanese mahjong) has been introduced independently in several European countries, and consequently slight differences in the rules exist across the continent. With the scheduling of the first European Riichi Championship in 2008, the need arose to standardize the riichi rules in the context of the European Mahjong Association.
This booklet describes the standard riichi rules of the European Mahjong Association. Thanks go to Sjef Strik, Jenn Barr and Benjamin Boas for great help in shedding light on rule differences and practices and for invaluable advice.
Some rules that have rooted in Europe are different in Japan, notably these three cases: 1. All Simples can only be claimed for a concealed hand. 2. When five counters are on the table, a two yaku minimum is invoked. 3. It is permissible to chow a tile and discard an identical tile from the hand.

Tina Christensen
European Mahjong Association
May 14, 2008
http://mahjong-europe.org/


The rules have been revised in order to avoid ambiguities and scoring examples have been added for clarity. The uma has been increased, double yakuman has been omitted except for Big Four Winds and rules on etiquette and tournament play have been added.

Tina Christensen
European Mahjong Association
January 8, 2012
http://mahjong-europe.org/