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This section lists articles of various authors regarding the variety of aspects devoted to the game of mahjong.

© All items has been placed with the concent of authors.
The articles were translated using computer-aided translation systems.

If you wish to contribute, please, contact Vitaly Novikov, email address: vitaly.novikov@mail.ru

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Before and after the publication of the compilation of "Mahjong Competition Rules"

Author: Wang Yingfu (王应辅)

About the author: Director of the Organizing Committee of the First World Mahjong Championship

Article published link: https://www.mahjong-ca.org/2019/01/编译《麻将竞赛规则》的出版前后/

Article published date: January 1, 2019

I am a veteran sports worker, having worked in sports teaching, training, and competition for many years, and I have been familiar with mahjong since childhood. After retiring from the State General Administration of Sport in 1996, playing mahjong became a part of my leisure life. In 1998, the State General Administration of Sport published the "Trial Version of the Chinese Mahjong Competition Rules" (hereinafter referred to as the "National Standard"), which elevated my appreciation of this elegant intellectual game from "leisure" to "competition." In 2003, under the advocacy of Mr. Yu Guangyuan (于光远), a group of renowned scholars rectified the reputation, legitimacy, and integrity of mahjong, advocating a healthy, scientific, and friendly mahjong culture, and held the first China Mahjong Forum and Open Tournament in Boao. I was impressed by their views and philosophies, and subsequently systematically studied Mr. Yu Guangyuan's works on leisure studies and competition theory, which sparked my interest. From 2004 onwards, I participated in the organization of the China Mahjong Open Tournament, thus getting to know the pioneers of competitive mahjong activities in China, scholars, experts, and veteran players from the domestic and international mahjong community. This opened up a new world for me after retirement.

Background of Rule Compilation

The Organizing Committee of the China Mahjong Forum and Open Tournament has successfully held three consecutive China Mahjong Forums and Open Tournaments in Boao, Hong Kong, and Beijing, receiving enthusiastic support and responses from mahjong organizations and enthusiasts both domestically and internationally. This has led to a new understanding of the historical situation and future prospects of the controversial Chinese "mahjong phenomenon," and deepened the understanding of "advocating a healthy, scientific, and friendly mahjong culture."

In 2005, during the third China Mahjong Open Tournament, I attended the founding conference of the World Mahjong Organization. This conference made three decisions: unanimously electing Mr. Yu Guangyuan as the president of the World Mahjong Organization; strongly advocating the compilation of an internationally used "Mahjong Competition Rules"; and holding the first World Mahjong Championship in China in 2007. Therefore, compiling the "Mahjong Competition Rules" became an urgent and crucial task.

The "National Standard" is the first officially promulgated "Mahjong Competition Rules" in China. It comprehensively summarizes and organizes the diverse forms of traditional Chinese mahjong activities, aiming to provide correct guidance and scientific management. It has generated a significant response in the domestic and international mahjong community, pioneering a healthy and competitive mahjong experience. It is a unified and rigorous competition system imbued with the national culture of mahjong. The first three China Mahjong Open Tournaments adopted the National Standard, and the competition practice laid the foundation for the compilation of the Mahjong Competition Rules.

The basic ideas and key points for compiling the Mahjong Competition Rules

We unanimously believe that inheriting and protecting the National Standard competition system is the foundation for compiling the Mahjong Competition Rules.

To inherit and protect this standard, we must repeatedly study and understand its five characteristics:

  1. Comprehensive: It fully absorbs the national cultural traditions of Chinese Mahjong scoring methods, comprehensively selecting 81 scoring methods from hundreds of existing methods in the diverse Chinese Mahjong game, making it authoritative.
  2. Detailed: Based on the characteristics of standardized Mahjong tiles, the classification of scoring methods is quantitatively evaluated in a series, which is detailed, reasonable, scientific, and rigorous.
  3. Difficult: It guides players to challenge themselves, fully utilize their skills, climb to the top, reduce reliance on chance, and increase the technical content.
  4. Flexible: In the winning hand combinations, there are complex dialectical relationships of interrelationships, constraints, and dependencies between scoring methods, making Mahjong competitions encompass profound philosophical concepts and extremely attractive.
  5. Strict: Based on the definition of scoring methods and the conditions for winning, it calculates strictly and accurately, without omissions, prevents double additions, conforms to logic, ensures the scientific and reasonableness of the calculation system, strictly enforces the rules at the competition table, and implements the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality.

To inherit and protect this system, we must rewrite the language and concepts related to Chinese characteristics in the preface, purpose, and postscript of the National Standard Rules under a healthy, scientific, and friendly consensus, and unify the behavioral norms and common terminology used in international competitions.

To inherit and protect this system, we must maintain stability. We meticulously reviewed each chapter, article, clause, sentence, and word of the National Standard Rules, with major changes requiring approval at each level. For example, changing the name of the "Big Four Joys" hand type to revert to the historical name "Four Phoenixes Meeting" was a process that, after repeated research, was finally approved by Mr. Guangyuan. Similarly, regarding the description and modification of the scoring for "Melded Kong" and "Concealed Kong," we repeatedly cited examples and compared them according to the National Standard's definition of hand types and scoring settings, and communicated with experts from international mahjong organizations. This process took several months before the final draft was completed.

To inherit and protect this system, we must unify standards, streamline relationships, and lay the foundation for the further development of the Mahjong Competition Rules. The National Standard Competition has been running for 10 years, and suggestions for improvement in certain parts of the rules are normal. We have carefully studied the ambiguities, debates, and suggestions. For example, based on the definition of "fan" (a type of winning hand), we have further clarified the distinction between "self-reliant" and "closed hand" (a hand with no set bonuses), and defined the rules for calculating scores. The National Standard is a complete competition system, with each part closely linked and tightly connected, and there should be no repetition, overlap, or logical confusion. Given the diversity of winning hands and the countless variations in Mahjong competitions, the definitions must be rigorous, and the examples should be typical. Therefore, we have strictly separated the definitions from the scoring examples (except for annotations in the definitions of the newly revised fan types), and all examples are placed in the appendix. When providing examples, we repeat the definitions, increasing the number of examples in the National Standard from 95 to 105, which is conducive to the development of the sport in practice. The competition format and scoring standards for determining winners and losers are consistent with international sports competitions. For the sake of uniformity, we have temporarily selected the internationally popular "4, 2, 1, 0" scoring system and determined the number of games required for different levels of competition. Based on experience in competition practice and the progress in automation of venues, equipment, and facilities, we have shortened the competition time to 150 minutes per game.

To inherit and protect this system, we must carefully translate the Chinese version of the "Mahjong Competition Rules" into the internationally accepted English version. The diverse Chinese Mahjong culture, with its charm, has spread to all parts of the world through various channels for nearly a century. After China introduced its national standard, the Japanese were the first to translate parts of the national standard into English and used these rules to host the World Mahjong Championships in Tokyo in 2002. This initiative propelled mahjong from a recreational activity to a competitive sport, attracting widespread attention from mahjong organizations and enthusiasts worldwide. It's worth noting that the Japanese commissioned Chinese professors to translate the national standard, resulting in the deletion of some important chapters (such as crucial clauses regarding the calculation of competition results). In 2005, the organizing committee of the China Mahjong Open commissioned a Chinese translation company to comprehensively translate the national standard competition manual into English. Neither of these two English translations by Chinese individuals satisfied the vast majority of mahjong enthusiasts in Europe and America, who felt their long-accustomed mahjong terminology had been altered, finding it "confusing" and "incomprehensible." Therefore, we invited experts from the European and American mahjong community to collaborate on translating the English version based on the original meaning of the Chinese version, standardizing the English terminology for the competition rules. This work began simultaneously with the drafting of the Chinese version, establishing… Frequent hotline communication, especially regarding the procedures and principles for score statistics on pages 29 and 30 of the national standard, involved repeated explanations and exchanges of opinions. Misunderstandings and ambiguities in the definition of "scoring types" were addressed repeatedly, ultimately reaching a consensus. The translation process of the English version was also a practical application of the motto "Mahjong originated in China but belongs to the world," allowing us to meet and unite many enthusiastic foreign friends who are passionate about spreading Mahjong culture.

To inherit and protect this culture, it is essential to cultivate a referee team proficient in the rules and regulations, capable of ensuring openness, fairness, and impartiality throughout Mahjong competitions. Mahjong competitions are unique, employing a four-player system per table, with each table forming a competition group. Competition results are determined through self-reporting, public recognition, and referee review, with players participating in the confirmation process. This differs from other sports competitions. Since the results are determined solely by the referee, referees must be thoroughly familiar with the rules and possess extensive practical experience to serve as referees. Mahjong has long been a diverse recreational game, and the scoring system, often based on agreements among four players, is highly arbitrary. Therefore, establishing a systematic referee training program, requiring qualified referees to pass examinations and be certified to organize competitions, is particularly important.

From 2006 to 2007, we held five Mahjong competition referee training courses. Through lectures, internships, seminars, and examinations, we trained international referees of various levels from both China and abroad. Among these, all foreign international referees were certified and served in the first World Mahjong Championship. International referees from Japan, Denmark, and France also served as arbitrators and deputy chief referees, playing a crucial role.

The compilation of the "Mahjong Competition Rules," based on the experience gained from three China Mahjong Open Championships, began at the end of 2005, was finalized in August 2006, and was simultaneously released in Chinese and English in September. This achievement will undoubtedly be recorded in history for advocating a healthy, scientific, and friendly mahjong culture worldwide and promoting the exchange and development of healthy competitive mahjong.

The first World Mahjong Championship

Since its promulgation, the "Mahjong Competition Rules" have been implemented in the 4th China Mahjong Open, the China-Japan Intellectual Sports Exchange Tournament, and the 2nd European Mahjong Championship (Denmark). The rules are clear and rigorous, leading to successful competitions and positive feedback. The European Mahjong Association stated, "The 'Mahjong Competition Rules,' as the new competition guidelines, have attracted more and more players, transforming mahjong into a long-term, active global sport," and "The world will be excited about this world championship, a milestone in mahjong history." To live up to the expectations of mahjong enthusiasts worldwide, we have meticulously planned the regulations for the first World Mahjong Championship, striving to create an unprecedented and unforgettable classic competition that fully showcases the charm of mahjong culture.

I. Based on the current state of international mahjong competitions, we have divided the world into four regions, selecting 36 players from each region to participate in the World Championship, for a total of 144 players. Adhering to the principle that players from the same region will not meet (teammates will also not meet), each game will be an exchange between players from all four regions, ensuring an open, fair, and impartial arrangement. Each player's entry card is a mahjong tile, and each team receives four identical tiles. The 144 entry cards form a standard mahjong set, showcasing the charm of mahjong: "I am in the tiles, and the tiles are in me; we make friends through mahjong and seek endless possibilities." The tournament program, results book, and entry cards will be permanent mementos.

II. Fully exploring the rich cultural heritage of mahjong, playing mahjong while experiencing its cultural significance is the fundamental principle behind our award system. The multifaceted awards reflect that Mahjong is a high-level, elegant, and sophisticated intellectual competition. Unlike general sports where individual or team champions are the sole measure of success, the awards should guide players to fully utilize their adaptability, ability to challenge themselves, their pursuit of excellence, their teamwork, and their tactical thinking. The awards should encourage players to showcase their individual wisdom and talent in multiple ways. Among our five major award categories are the unforgettable 88-point commemorative award, the award for the highest score in a single game or match, the award reflecting a team style that prioritizes sportsmanship, the awards recognizing high-level team and individual rankings, and the individual and team champion, runner-up, and third-place awards from this World Championship. Award recipients accounted for 39% of the participants. We hope that all players can enjoy the charm of mahjong culture and experience the fun of mahjong as an intellectual game. We hope that the wonderful hands, anecdotes, player stories, and technical statistics generated in the first World Championship can become clues for studying the sport of mahjong, exploring the depths of mahjong intelligence, promoting the development of mahjong competition, and making the "Mahjong Competition Rules" the foundation and starting point for practicing a healthy, scientific, and friendly mahjong culture, developing along with the development of competition practice.

Wang Yingfu, Director of the Organizing Committee of the First World Mahjong Championship, December 2006.

"Eight Immortals Mahjong Picture" and MCR Mahjong

Author: Tom Li (和为贵)

About the author:

Article published link: https://www.mahjong-ca.org/2019/02/《八仙麻将图》与国标麻将-2/

Article published date: February 5, 2019

Mr. Wang Yingfu, Technical Director of Canada MCR Sports Association, possesses a cleverly conceived and fascinating painting titled "Eight Immortals Mahjong," which is significant for studying the history of mahjong culture and exploring the broader context of the formation of MCR Mahjong. Let us approach this painting with a calm mind, carefully examining its details and slowly appreciating the rich information it contains; perhaps this will deepen our love for MCR Mahjong.

I will attempt to explain the thoughts this diagram evoked in me from three aspects:

1. From the perspective of appreciating traditional Chinese painting art: This painting is a cigarette poster from the early Republic of China period, produced by the Qingdao Yuchunhao Cigarette Company. It served as a product poster but was also given as a New Year's gift to customers. The artist's style is meticulous, the composition intricate, and the figures' expressions rich, natural, and delicate. Their clothing is distinctive, and the proportions are balanced. The artist also inherited the scattered perspective technique of traditional Chinese painting, leaving posterity with a rare depiction of a mahjong game. The painting uses the folk game of mahjong as its theme, featuring the Eight Immortals from Chinese folklore as the game characters. It is complemented by common elements in Chinese painting: towering mountains, white mist and green pines, pavilions and towers, jade flutes and cranes, wooden tables and stone benches, creating a breathtaking and enchanting fairyland. Even in this beautiful moment, the immortals cannot resist the urge to indulge in their hobby. Thus, an eight-immortal table is set up, four immortals spread out their tiles, and four others watch from the side. The sounds of flutes and wind, along with flowers and peaches, create a beautiful scene of people enjoying a game on earth. This painting employs the technique of rubbing brush watercolor, where the artist boldly combines mundane games with legendary figures, imbuing this national treasure with a layer of mystery.

2. From the perspective of Mahjong's popularity among the people: The Eight Immortals represent all walks of life, and their playing Mahjong indicates that it is a widely accepted intellectual game, unrestricted by any school or social class. It also shows that anyone can learn Mahjong and become a master. The fact that the Eight Immortals playing Mahjong appeared on cigarette advertisements fully demonstrates the popularity and widespread appeal of Mahjong 100 years ago, proving that Mahjong originated in China, matured in the late Qing Dynasty, became popular during the Republic of China era, and was perfected 20 years before the turn of the century. This also reminds us that Mahjong is a national treasure, a sophisticated, interesting, and captivating intellectual game. We must inherit it, develop it, and promote it, ensuring that this unique flower in the treasure trove of intellectual games continues to bloom. The scene shows that the Eight Immortals were playing a healthy form of mahjong, not gambling. They were dressed appropriately, the atmosphere was friendly, and the game was played and executed according to rules. This demonstrates that at that time, mahjong was able to transcend vulgarity, chaos, and low-level play.

3. From the perspective of the scoring system: MCR Mahjong incorporates the essence of various regional scoring methods, maintaining tradition while innovating. However, this particular game shows that there were already limits on the number of points required to win. Based on Zhang Guolao's (张果老) winning hand and the number of points, it can be determined that they used the current standard of "8 points to win." Below, we analyze the scoring patterns of the four players' hands one by one:

  • Zhang Guolao — Standing: 22+456+89 of Bamboo + 456+789 of Characters; Waiting: 7 of Bamboo; Winning: 7 of Bamboo (self-draw); Scoring: 4 Fully Concealed Hand + 2 All Chows + 1 One Voided Suit + 2 Short Straight twice + 1 Mixed Double Chow + 1 Edge Wait = 11 points (a typical low-scoring combination)
  • Cao Guojiu (曹国舅) — Melded: Pung of North + Pung of Green; Standing: 111 of Dots + Pair of White + 77 of Bamboo; Waiting: 7 of Bamboo or White (paired); Scoring: 6 All Pungs + 2 Pung of Terminals or Honors twice + 2 Dragon Pung + 1 One Voided Suit + (if winning with White, then add 4 for two Dragon Pungs) = 11 points (the main scoring pattern is All Pungs)
  • Li Tieguai (李铁拐) — Melded: Pung of Red + Pung of West; Standing: 11 + 234 + 56 of Bamboo; Waiting: 147 of Bamboo; Scoring: 6 Half Flush + 2 Dragon Pung + 1 Pung of Terminals or Honors + 1 Short Straight = 11 points (Main point type is Half Flush)
  • Han Zhongli (汉钟离) — Standing: 123 + 456 + 7888 + 999 of Bamboo; Waiting: 1346789 of Bamboo; Scoring: (If winning with 7 of Bamboo) 24 Full Flush + 1 Short Straight + 1 Pung of Terminals or Honors = 26 points (Main point type is Full Flush)

It is very interesting that all four players can win with 7 of Bamboo, and at that time, there was only one 7 of Bamboo left in the wall. Whoever drew it first won. From the above three main point types, it can be seen that there were mature point types and strict "8 points minimum to win" restrictions at that time; and the MCR Mahjong inherited, developed and improved this game competition system, refined it, and kept pace with the times, forming today's "MCR Mahjong Competition Rules".

So much valuable information can be gleaned from this painting alone; therefore, our Mahjong has a long history, a glorious era loved by all, and a new century in which it moves towards the world and faces the future.

Analysis of the low-level combination, commonly known as "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," where each displays their unique abilities — a low-level combination consisting entirely of 1-fan.

  • Melded: 9999 of Dots; Standing: 123, 456 of Dots, 123, 8 of Bamboo; Waiting: 8 of Bamboo.
  • Melded: 9999 of Dots; Standing: 12, 456 of Dots, 123, 88 of Bamboo; Waiting: 3 of Dots.
  • Melded: 9999 of Bamboo; Standing: 123, 456, 88 of Bamboo, 46 of Dots; Waiting: 5 of Dots.

The characteristics of this winning hand can be categorized as follows:

  1. There must be a Melded Kong of 1 or 9
  2. There must be One Voided Suit
  3. There must be No Honors
  4. There must be Self-Drawn
  5. There must be Edge or Closed or Single Wait

Since a winning hand requires a self-drawn draw, logically, aiming for the "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" hand is not ideal. However, there is a situation that combines this with a "complete draw" hand, where drawing the winning tile results in a "complete draw" hand, and drawing the winning tile results in a "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" hand. An example hand is shown below:

Melded: 123, 9999 of Bamboo, 123, 789 of Characters; Standing: 6 of Bamboo; Win from discard on 6 of Bamboo for Melded Hand for 12 points, while and Win from the wall is worth 8 points, forming the "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" winning hand.

Note: Melded Hand is a last resort. To improve your hand, try not to choose Melded Hand as your main hand, as it is a shameless way to win.

Does the Duplicate Mahjong eliminate the element of luck?

Author: Max Ma (马建新)

About the author: The president of Canada MCR Sports Association

Article published link: https://www.mahjong-ca.org/2019/02/hello-world-2/

Article published date: February 1, 2019

MCR Mahjong allows mahjong enthusiasts from different backgrounds and with different regional customs to sit together and hone their skills. This is not only a boon for mahjong and its players, but also a positive promotion and development of Chinese culture in keeping with the times. The design of 81 scoring combinations in MCR Mahjong takes into account the opportunities and challenges brought by different hand types, reducing the element of luck while highlighting the importance of experience and skill. For example, a messy starting hand might be considered a discard in some regional mahjong variations, but in MCR Mahjong, you might find that such a messy hand can be turned into a Greater or Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles, Knitted Straight, or even a Thirteen Orphans hand. How to achieve this and how to do it depends on the player's skill level.

After more than twenty years of practice and promotion, MCR Mahjong has gained increasing popularity among mahjong enthusiasts, and more and more people are participating in its research, including refining and considering the rules. I am one of them. I believe that MCR Mahjong has the following main shortcomings:

  • Some special hand types were not considered equally in the design of the scoring system. For example, there is All Even Pungs, but not All Uneven Pungs; there is Knitted Straight, consisting of runs 147-258-369 but not a partial combination run (147-147-258, 147-147-147); there is a two-tier system of Pure Shifted Chows, but not a two-tier system of Mixed Shifted Chows, etc.
  • The score of a hand does not match its probability of occurrence. For example, the probability of completing Pure Terminal Chows is higher than Three-Suited Terminal Chows, but the score is much higher.
  • Luck still plays a significant role; in a game, the winner is often not the player with the highest skill level. We believe that the influence of luck diminishes as the number of rounds increases, but the nature of mahjong (its long playing time) prevents a game from having too many rounds (generally no more than 10), thus leading to an extraordinary role for luck in the game.

The first two questions are essentially about luck, because the probability of getting 147-258-369 and 147-147-147 is the same, but one has a winning hand (a "fan") while the other doesn't. It all depends on your luck. Therefore, the real issue with MCR Mahjong is how to further eliminate or reduce the influence of luck on the competitive outcome at the rule level, making Mahjong matches more technical, fair, and competitive.

Many national standard mahjong enthusiasts and organizations have been researching, discussing, exploring, and practicing. Some people were inspired by Duplicate Bridge and proposed that no matter what kind of hand they receive, whether it's good or bad, if everyone gets the same hand, they can compare their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this idea, Duplicate Mahjong was born.

The main characteristics of Duplicate Mahjong are as follows:

  • In a game played by four people, each person draws tiles only from their own starting position. This ensures that no matter who melds (chow, pung, kong), it does not affect the player's draws or the order in which they draw tiles.
  • A game requires at least four tables with 16 players simultaneously playing the same 16 hands. After each hand is played, the four players sitting in the same wind position at the four tables compare their scores, which are then converted into IMP scores. After 16 hands are played, the rankings are determined by the total IMP score.

Of course, there are other characteristics of Duplicate Mahjong, but since they are not relevant to the topic of this article, they will not be listed here. It can be seen that Duplicate Mahjong aims to determine the winner among four players who draw the same tiles, thereby reducing the element of luck. The reason is simple: since all four players draw the same tiles, the one with the most points should be the most skilled. Even if there is luck involved in drawing good or bad tiles, all four players are equal. At first glance, this seems reasonable. But is this really the case? We can conduct a careful analysis.

First, we need to unify our understanding of luck in regular (non-duplicate) mahjong. What exactly is luck? Only by thoroughly understanding this concept of luck can we determine whether, and to what extent, Duplicate Mahjong eliminates the element of luck.

Firstly, without a doubt, the tiles a player draws are the first aspect of luck. Through drawing and exchanging tiles, players aim to achieve a winning hand. Are the tiles drawn the necessary for building a hand? How quickly can one draw the necessary tiles? We all know this is random, a mathematical problem; sometimes it's a good hand, sometimes not, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. For a specific player, this manifests as luck. The quality and speed of drawing tiles directly determine the speed at which you can form a winning hand, so it's no exaggeration to say that drawing tiles is the primary element of luck.

Secondly, melding (chow, pung) is also crucial parts of the mahjong game. Melds can speed up the process of forming a winning hand and disrupt the order of drawing tiles. Melding can also be tactical, simply aiming to change the order of drawing tiles. Konging is similar; if you're already in a winning hand, it gives you an extra chance to kong. In short, regardless of the purpose of melding chows, pungs, or kongs, different people, even with the same hand, will have different strategies. This is related to the player's tactics, including their understanding, analysis, and prediction of mahjong, and also largely reflects their personality traits. The same hand will yield different results with different players. Therefore, the type of player you encounter is another aspect of luck in mahjong.

Thirdly, there's the matter of discarding. Discarding comes before melds. Therefore, which tile to discard, and the order in which to discard it, will greatly influence the outcome of the game. Clearly, discarding tiles is closely related to a player's skill, playing style, and personality. What we often perceive in our daily gameplay — how closely the player before us watches, how cautiously they play — are all manifestations of different skills and playing styles. Therefore, who you play with is crucial, yet this is something we can't control; what else could it be but luck?

The above three points are common, directly perceptible elements of luck that can alter the outcome of a Mahjong game. Other so-called luck factors, including astrology and timing, are not considered in this article. In short, luck in Mahjong comes from the tiles you draw and your tablemates. This luck occurs in every Mahjong game; we can directly feel it, but we cannot predict or control it.

With this consensus on luck in Mahjong, let's revisit the characteristics of Duplicate Mahjong mentioned earlier. We can clearly see that Duplicate Mahjong completely solves the problem of drawing tiles, but not the problem of playing with the right table — meaning it only solves "half" of the luck issue. Frankly speaking, the problem of playing with the right table is a human problem, and given our current understanding of Mahjong, it's difficult to find a reasonable solution, at least for now. Therefore, the inability to solve this problem doesn't mean that Duplicate Mahjong is bad. What I want to point out is that, because the human factor cannot be eliminated, Duplicate Mahjong, to some extent, increases the element of luck. Why do I say this? Let's analyze it further.

Through the previous analysis, we've clarified that in a regular mahjong game, the four players influence each other, but this influence is limited to the four players at that table; different tables don't affect each other. However, in Duplicate Mahjong, for each hand, a player's score is compared with the scores of three players at the same table, and these three players' gains and losses are influenced by their tablemates. We can illustrate this influence with the following example.

There are four tables of compound mahjong, numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. At the first table, the players for East, South, West, and North are E1, S1, W1, and N1, respectively, and so on for the other three tables. Let's take the four players in the East position (E1, E2, E3, and E4) as an example. Assume that in a certain hand, E1, E2, and E3 all played normally, without making any mistakes. Although they didn't win or discard any tiles that would allow others to win, they each received -8 points. E4 played the same hand as E1, E2, and E3, but his tablemate S4 made a mistake, so he luckily won, receiving 32 points. According to the scoring method for compound mahjong individual tournaments, the average score for the four players in this hand is (-8 - 8 - 8 + 32) / 4 = 2. The difference between E1, E2, E3, and E4's score and the average score is -10, -10, -10, and 30 respectively. Converted to IMP, these are -3, -3, -3, and 5 for each player. It's easy to see that S4's mistake resulted in E1, E2, and E3 being 8 IMPs behind E4 in this hand. We can imagine what the score difference would be if E4 had won a strong hand, and if E1, E2, and E3 had all been dealt points by discards that allowed E4 to win. Can we conclude from this that E1, E2, and E3 are less skilled than E4?

The above example reveals a major flaw in Duplicate Mahjong: the game's outcome is significantly influenced by human factors. You're playing against three other players at one table, comparing your score to those three players at another three tables, who in turn are affected by the results of those nine players across those three tables. Therefore, in each hand, a player is battling fifteen people, knowing full well that the results at the other three tables will influence their own score, yet powerless to change it.

It must be pointed out that the human influence we are referring to here is not intentional. We are referring to the different game situations and outcomes caused by different playing styles due to factors such as the player's experience, skill, and personality. We attribute this influence to the player's luck. In regular mahjong, which three people you play with is a matter of luck; in Duplicate Mahjong, which fifteen people you play with is a matter of luck.

In conclusion, the Duplicate Mahjong successfully solved the luck-based issue of drawing tiles in conventional mahjong, but it unfortunately increased the influence of unrelated players on the game's outcome. However, I greatly admire this spirit of daring to try mahjong reform and believe that one day we can completely abandon luck and have a purely skill-based mahjong competition.

Updated: 06.08.2026