Riichi mahjong guide
Learn riichi mahjong, the complete guide
50 progressive lessons, 17 precise yaku guides, and 2 practical references for finding a direct answer.
Curriculum
The progressive path
Start with the rules, then move through yaku, scoring, defense, and strategy.
- Lesson 1The goal of the gameIn riichi mahjong, complete a legal hand, usually four groups and a pair, before your opponents, then maximize your result over the whole game.
- Lesson 2The 34 tilesRiichi mahjong uses 34 different tiles: three suits numbered 1 to 9 (man, pin, sou) plus seven honors, and every tile comes in four copies.
- Lesson 3Building a handAn ordinary winning hand occupies four group slots plus a pair; a declared kan still counts as one group despite its fourth tile.
- Lesson 4Calls: pon, chi, kanPon, chi and kan let you claim a discard to complete a group, but opening your hand costs you riichi and many valuable yaku.
- Lesson 5Points, your bankrollUnder Tenhou rules every player starts with 25,000 points: you win with them, pay with them, bet 1,000 on riichi, and the final stack sets the rank.
- Lesson 6How a game flowsA riichi game reads like a dashboard: round wind, kyoku number, dealer (oya) and the honba counter frame every hand you play.
- Lesson 7RiichiRiichi is the closed-hand tenpai declaration: you bet 1000 points, gain a yaku, reveal uradora on a win, and lock your hand until the end of the hand.
- Lesson 8Fundamentals: recapA recap of the Fundamentals chapter: tiles, hand structure, tenpai and shanten, the mandatory yaku, ron, tsumo and dora in riichi mahjong.
- Lesson 9Basic yakuWithout a yaku, a completed hand cannot win at all; riichi, menzen tsumo, tanyao, yakuhai and pinfu are common starting patterns to learn.
- Lesson 10Tanyao and pinfuTanyao (all simple tiles) and pinfu (an all-sequence hand with no extra fu) are two common riichi yaku, and tanpin is the two of them stacked.
- Lesson 11YakuhaiYakuhai, also called fanpai, is a triplet of value tiles (a dragon or a useful wind), worth one han and still valid when your hand is open.
- Lesson 12Sequence yaku: iipeikou, sanshoku, ittsuu, and ryanpeikouRecognize the four major sequence yaku in riichi, their closed and open values, and the patterns worth preserving.
- Lesson 13DoraThe dora is a bonus tile that inflates your score without being a yaku: learn the indicator, uradora, kan dora and aka dora rules.
- Lesson 14The yaku: recapYaku chapter recap: the mandatory pattern you need to win, its value in han, closed versus open hands, and the trap of tenpai with no yaku.
- Lesson 15Triplet yaku: toitoi, sanankou, and shousangenLearn the five yaku built from triplets and quads, including the decisive rule for a triplet completed by ron.
- Lesson 16Honitsu, chinitsu, and honroutouDistinguish flush hands from terminal hands, learn their values, and read the signals they leave in the discard pool.
- Lesson 17Chanta, junchan, and chiitoitsuChanta is 2 han with a terminal or honor in every group, junchan 3 han with no honors at all, and chiitoitsu 2 han for seven different pairs.
- Lesson 18Situational yaku: ippatsu, rinshan, chankan, haitei, and houteiIppatsu, rinshan kaihou, chankan, haitei on the last wall tile and houtei under the river: the timing yaku, their han, and the Tenhou exclusions.
- Lesson 19YakumanYakuman are legendary riichi hands: each pattern has a fixed payout that ignores han and fu, and multiple yakuman stack.
- Lesson 20Complete riichi yakuman catalogExplore all twelve Tenhou yakuman, from opening blessings to four winds, four quads, and the nine gates pattern.
- Lesson 21Advanced yaku: recapReview triplet yaku, flushes, situational wins, and the complete catalog of yakuman used under Tenhou rules in this advanced exam.
- Lesson 22Wait shapesRyanmen, kanchan, penchan, shanpon and tanki describe the final tile you need; their width and fu affect efficiency and scoring.
- Lesson 23Counting blocksBlock theory reads an ordinary hand as four future groups and one future pair, then compares the shapes competing for those five places.
- Lesson 24Reading complex shapesComplex shapes combine several possible runs, pairs and waits; decomposing them in multiple ways reveals their true ukeire.
- Lesson 25Ukeire (acceptance)Ukeire is the set of tiles that advance your hand toward tenpai; learn to count these outs to keep the discard with the widest acceptance.
- Lesson 26Deciding whether to callChi or pon can speed up a hand but opens it; the decision depends on the surviving yaku, shanten, ukeire, score and risk.
- Lesson 27Shapes and efficiency: recapThis recap links wait shapes, blocks, ukeire and calls to compare objectively which discards move a hand toward tenpai.
- Lesson 28GenbutsuGenbutsu is a tile already sitting in an opponent's river: furiten makes it safe against that player's ron, not against the other players.
- Lesson 29FuritenFuriten means no ron: if any tile you wait on is already in your own kawa, only tsumo can win. The three cases, with a 3-6 sou example.
- Lesson 30Suji: the 1-4-7 linesSuji cuts your risk when safe tiles run out: a discarded tile makes its 1-4-7, 2-5-8 and 3-6-9 lines safer against a ryanmen wait, not a certainty.
- Lesson 31Reading a river (kawa)Learn to read an opponent's river (kawa): the order of their discards reveals their progress, their likely shapes, and which tiles are safe.
- Lesson 32Kabe (the tile wall)Kabe means counting every visible tile to spot the waits that have become impossible, so you can discard safer no-chance tiles on defense.
- Lesson 33Sakigiri: discarding earlySakigiri means discarding early a tile likely to become dangerous when keeping it is worth less than the future safety you seek.
- Lesson 34Reading opponent callsChi, pon and kan reveal certain groups; combined with discards and dora, they narrow possible yaku and value without proving the wait.
- Lesson 35Reading opponent waitsA concealed wait cannot be known from discards alone; combine genbutsu, suji, kabe, calls and visible tiles to rank risk.
- Lesson 36Defense: recapRecap of the Defense chapter: furiten and genbutsu, suji, walls (kabe), and choosing between folding (betaori) and pushing against a riichi.
- Lesson 37The score tableUnderstand the riichi score table: how han and fu combine through the formula base = fu × 2^(2+han) to produce the final point value.
- Lesson 38Counting hanHan measure an ordinary hand’s value: they come from yaku and dora, then combine with fu, seat and win method.
- Lesson 39Fu pointsFu are the minipoints that, together with han, set a winning riichi hand's score: base value, wait, triplets, pair and how you won.
- Lesson 40Riichi payments: ron, tsumo, dealer, and honbaCalculate who pays a ron or tsumo win, then add honba and riichi deposits correctly to the final point transfer between players.
- Lesson 41Scoring: recapRiichi scoring recap: how han and fu combine into points, dealer versus non-dealer payments, tsumo and ron splits, and the mangan to yakuman limits.
- Lesson 42Estimating hand valueEstimate a hand by counting yaku and dora, anticipating fu, then converting the result for dealer status and ron or tsumo.
- Lesson 43Riichi or damatenRiichi adds a yaku and enables ippatsu and uradora, but reveals and constrains the hand; damaten keeps tenpai hidden and flexible without those bonuses.
- Lesson 44Push or foldPush or fold is the choice between advancing your hand and defending, and it hinges on weighing the risk of dealing into an opponent's ron.
- Lesson 45Playing placementUnder Tenhou rules, the final result combines raw points, oka, and placement uma, so All Last play requires exact payment targets.
- Lesson 46Strategy: recapStrategy chapter recap: tile efficiency and ukeire, riichi judgment, the speed and value balance, and defense with genbutsu and suji in riichi mahjong.
- Lesson 47The three furitenDiscard furiten, temporary furiten and riichi furiten: the three situations that forbid a ron in riichi mahjong while never blocking your tsumo.
- Lesson 48Kan in detailAnkan, daiminkan and kakan: learn the three ways to declare a kan in riichi mahjong, the extra dora and fu bonuses, and the chankan trap.
- Lesson 49Formal tenpai (keishiki tenpai)At the exhaustive draw, tenpai players collect a noten penalty from unready players, so even a yakuless formal tenpai pays off.
- Lesson 50Advanced rules: recapThe Advanced rules chapter at a glance: the three furiten, kan in detail (rinshan, kan-dora, chankan) and formal tenpai at the exhaustive draw.
Yaku guides
One yaku at a time
Standalone guides for checking one exact rule without restarting the full course.
- Guide 1Ryanpeikou: two pairs of identical sequencesRyanpeikou is a 3-han closed yaku built from two separate pairs of identical sequences in their respective suits.
- Guide 2Sanankou: three concealed tripletsSanankou scores 2 han for three concealed triplets or kans, even with an open group. Ron on a shanpon wait does not count as concealed.
- Guide 3Pinfu: the hand with no extra fuPinfu is a 1-han closed yaku with four sequences, a valueless pair, and a ryanmen wait that awards no extra fu.
- Guide 4Chiitoitsu: seven pairsChiitoitsu is a closed hand made from seven distinct pairs, worth 2 han with a fixed total of 25 fu.
- Guide 5Toitoi: four triplets and a pairToitoi is the all-triplets yaku: 2 han for four triplets or kans and a pair, whether the hand is open or closed.
- Guide 6Kokushi musou: thirteen orphansKokushi musou is a closed yakuman made from all thirteen distinct terminals and honors, plus one duplicate among them.
- Guide 7Daisangen: big three dragonsDaisangen is a yakuman containing a triplet or kan of each dragon, whether the hand is open or closed.
- Guide 8Suuankou: four concealed tripletsSuuankou is a yakuman: four concealed triplets or kans plus a pair. Ron on a shanpon wait breaks it, tsumo and a tanki wait keep it.
- Guide 9Sanshoku doujun: the same sequence in three suitsSanshoku doujun uses the same sequence in man, pin, and sou, for 2 han closed or 1 han when the hand is open.
- Guide 10Ittsuu: a pure straight in one suitIttsuu combines the 123, 456, and 789 sequences in one suit, for 2 han closed or 1 han when the hand is open.
- Guide 11Honroutou: terminals and honorsHonroutou is worth 2 han for a hand containing only terminals and honors, with at least one tile from each category.
- Guide 12Honitsu: one suit with honorsHonitsu, the half flush, is one numbered suit plus honors: 3 han closed, 2 han open. When to open it and how to read it in the kawa.
- Guide 13Chinitsu: one suit, no honorsChinitsu uses exactly one numbered suit with no honors and is worth 6 han closed or 5 han open in riichi mahjong.
- Guide 14Shousangen: little three dragonsShousangen uses two dragon groups and a pair of the third dragon, scoring at least 4 han once both yakuhai are included.
- Guide 15Chanta: terminals and honors in every groupChanta requires a terminal or honor in every group and the pair, with at least one sequence and at least one honor in the hand.
- Guide 16Junchan: terminals everywhere, no honorsJunchan requires a terminal in every group and the pair, at least one sequence, and no honors; it is worth 3 han closed or 2 open.
- Guide 17Iipeikou: two identical sequences in one suitIipeikou is 1 han for two identical sequences in the same suit. It needs a closed hand, and two of them score ryanpeikou instead.
References
Answers worth keeping close
Two direct references for checking yaku and calculating a score without hunting around.
- Reference 1Riichi mahjong yaku listCheck every yaku in the Tenhou profile by value, whether it works open or closed, and the WRC 2025 differences that change the total.
- Reference 2Riichi mahjong scoringCalculate a riichi score in the right order: yaku and han, fu, base value, the ron or tsumo multiplier, then rounding.