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Yaku guides · 13 / 17

Chinitsu: one suit, no honors

Chinitsu uses exactly one numbered suit with no honors and is worth 6 han closed or 5 han open in riichi mahjong.

The principle

Chinitsu (清一色), often called full flush in English, requires an entire hand in manzu, pinzu, or souzu, with no wind or dragon. It is worth 6 han closed and 5 han open. Under the standard score table, the closed version already reaches haneman and the open version reaches mangan before any compatible yaku or dora are added.

Rule and example

The difference from honitsu is the complete absence of honors. A single dragon pair is enough to make the hand honitsu instead. Removing the last honor can greatly increase value, but only when the new shape keeps useful ukeire. The highest theoretical total is not always the fastest route to a win.

What changes

Chinitsu hands often create complex waits because the same tiles support several decompositions. Before declaring ron or riichi, read the entire suit again and list every winning tile. A forgotten wait already present in your own kawa can put the whole hand in furiten, even when the offered tile looks unrelated.

Mistake to avoid

Chinitsu may combine with tanyao, ittsuu, chiitoitsu, iipeikou, ryanpeikou, or other yaku compatible with its structure. Each still needs to be present in the finished shape. On defense, repeated calls in one suit and early rejection of the other two signal danger without revealing the exact ranks being awaited.

Rules references

  • Tenhou rulesReference profile used for game mechanics and scoring.
  • WRC Rules 2025International rules compared whenever their options differ from Tenhou.

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