1st North American Riichi Open

This is a tournament scheduled for June 13-14, 2015 to take place in Montreal (Quebec), Canada.

Name

As the name implies, it purports to be the first open ([fr] omnium) tournament in North America for riichi mahjong. The criteria for this are:

1. Open access to anyone.
2. Three-month advance notice.
3. Related to Japanese mahjong.

There have been many things called "tournaments" in North America: it is not the organizer's goal to mock previous events but to propose a better standard, similar to what is occuring in Europe at this time.

Location

The tournament will take place at the Collège de Maisonneuve (3800 Sherbrooke East) in the South wing (Room E-3313). Presence is required Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 until 17:30.

Cost

Given the pressure to keep costs as low as possible due to budgetary concerns from the organizer and the capacity to pay of most people, it was decided to set the price at 40 CAD per person, including both lunches.

Rules

While not denying the need for a global standard, the organizer decided that for a first tournament, the rules would attempt to make a suitable hybrid between local rules and the World Riichi Championship rules used previously in 2014 in Puteaux, France.

Basic settings

• Type: Ari-ari mahjong.
• Points: 30,000 to start, busting ends the game.
• Dora: All standard dora, kandora follow late flip rules.
• Chombo: 20,000 point deduction, done at the end of the game (a delayed negative score), affecting table placement.
• Call priority: 0.5 seconds. Ron calls have a three second window regardless of other calls.
• Red fives: None.
• Games end at South 4 or when someone busts.

Yaku and scoring options

• No abortive draws
• No counted yakuman. (11+ han = sanbaiman)
• No multiple yakuman. (Absolute limit of 32,000/48,000)
• No renhou or paarenchan.
• No ryanhan-shibari.
• Tenpai-renchan.
• Proper furiten required.
• Last-hand riichi sticks are removed from the game.

Faults and fouls

• 1 to 5 tiles (from anywhere but opponent's hands) = 1,000 pt deposit.
• 1 to 5 tiles from an opponent's hand = dead hand.
• 6+ tiles from anywhere = chombo.
• False ron call with no tiles shown = dead hand.
• False ron call with tiles shown = chombo.
• Illegal upgrade of a call = chombo.

(Legal upgrade: Any variation of "po-ron" or "pon, I mean ron" done quickly (0.5 seconds) prior to tiles being exposed is tolerated. Taking much longer, or exposing two tiles then calling ron is illegal.)

Extra rulings

• Scoring sheets (for marking the final game score) along with a point grid will be provided.
• Yaku sheets are not provided: players with them may not consult them during a match (from East 1 to South 4).
• Violations of the rules are potentially subject to 10,000 point deductions.
• Cheating will lead to immediate expulsion. Standards of proof are not subject to debate.
• Self-arbitration is both encouraged and required. The referee is responsible for the tournament, not for each individual.
• Scoring is done with point sticks: please overpay quickly and efficiently. Do not dive for 26 green sticks for payment.
• All calls should be vocalized cleanly and effectively. If you have a problem articulating P/R, or in general: let the table know. If the table has to warn a player twice, the third time may be subject to a dead hand ruling.
• No foreign objects allowed on the game tables. Placing a beverage, food or a rack/ruler (or anything else not necessary) on a game table is subject to a 10,000 point deduction per violation.

External links

• Osamuko article