Single suit mahjong

Single suit mahjong is a variant of mahjong for two players that uses just one numeric suit. This variation is devised as practice for working with chinitsu hands and their notorious ability to form complicated waiting patterns.

General Rules and Variations

• This variant is usually played with 36 tiles: 1-9 in a single numeric suit, usually pinzu (circles) or souzu (bamboo). In the latter case, it is also possible to include the hatsu (green dragon) tiles to allow for the Ryuuiisou yakuman scoring pattern, and add honitsu (half-flush) scoring possibilities.
• Due to the low number of tiles, single-suit mahjong is only played between two players. It is not required to track seats by wind: only whom is dealer, and whom is non-dealer. As per typical rules, the dealer starts with fourteen tiles in hand and makes the first discard, while the non-dealer starts with thirteen tiles in hand.
• There are no dora tiles nor dead wall; a draw occurs when there are no tiles remaining to be drawn.
• You may not call chii, pon, or kan on another player's discards. You may call a closed kan (ankan). Depending on the variation, riichi may or may not be allowed; in the case that it is allowed, it is often a free declaration (no 1000-point cost).
• On a win, the winning player must accurately declare their yaku, han value, waits, and score. If there is a mistake in the count, then the winner only receives what they call. If you want to be more strict, you can also agree to reduce the payout or nullify it completely.
• You may follow standard scoring rules, or a simplified rule where each han is worth 100 or 1000 points, up to a maximum of 10 or 13 han.
• Speaking of chombo penalties, this is often severe. Since chinitsu hands typically start at haneman level already, setting a reverse yakuman (or max value) penalty for penalties can be considered normal. Be very careful about furiten ron!
• The winner of each hand becomes the next dealer; play until one player busts the other (you might want to start with more points than usual) or a fixed number of hands, according to taste.

External links

• Bamboo Mahjong @ gamedesign.jp
• 2-player Chinitsu Mahjong @ hinakin.main.jp
• 【麻雀】タッキーｖｓヒサト激突生バトル2013.12.10.OA (YouTube)

Two player single suit using pinzu.