Riichi: Difference between revisions

Declaring riichi is not mandatory. Players may decline to declare riichi, keeping the hand's tenpai status hidden - this is a tactic known as [[damaten]]. Various game scenarios should be considered before calling riichi, such as current point standing and available tiles.

* The player must have at least 1,000 points (assuming the player is [[Rule_variations#Scoring|not allowed to go into negative points]]).

To declare riichi, a player announces riichi and discards a tile facing sideways in the discard pile. This is done to indicate when riichi was called. If that tile is claimed by another player for an open meld, then the next discard is turned sideways as a replacement.

After a riichi declaration, the hand remains locked and unchangeable. In this state, the player is simply waiting for a winning tile to appear, either by draw or discard. However, there is a notable exception: a riichi player may declare [[kan]] in [[#Kan|certain circumstances]].

You are able to declare a closed [[kan]] after a riichi. When this is legal will depend on the ruleset; improper calls may be subject to [[chombo]]. See [[Kan#Kan during riichi|Kan during riichi]] for more details. Even if the kan is legal, you can choose to not call it.

During riichi, a player may be furiten. In this case, the riichi is considered to be a '''furiten riichi'''.

In addition, riichi hands are subject to a special type of furiten. After calling riichi, a player may decline to call on a winning tile. However, if a win is declined, then the riichi hand is subject to furiten for the remainder of the round. Thus, all tiles discarded after the riichi declaration (as indicated by the sideways tile) are considered to be guaranteed [[genbutsu|safe tiles]]. While it is advised to declare a win on the first opportunity, some plays may require a player not to do so under very specific circumstances.  Of course, such play requires caution.

In real life play, a player may declare riichi without tenpai - this would be a '''noten riichi''' {{kana|ノーテンリーチ}}, which is highly ill-advised. If the hand results in [[ryuukyoku]], then it is required to reveal the hand. The hand would naturally show noten, which is illegal, and thus subject to a [[chombo]] penalty. Likewise, an incorrectly called win would also be subject to chombo. This dubious situation can be escaped if another player wins, another player commits a chombo, or if an [[abortive draw]] occurs. Of course, most mahjong software will prevent players from declaring a riichi without tenpai.

'''Double riichi''' {{kana|ダブルリーチ}} is a special case for riichi. If riichi is declared on the first turn, before the player's discard, then double riichi applies. In addition, no tile calls may have been made before riichi is called. As the name implies, double riichi is worth 2 han instead of 1 han, as a bonus for the initial timing. Due to the added han, and because tenpai is reached on turn 1, a double riichi hand has a huge advantage over others.