World Riichi Championship
The World Riichi Championship is an invitational tournament with competitors from around the world, including Japan. It is administered by the World Riichi Championship Committee, and organized by national associations. The first Championship was held in Paris during July 2014,[1] and the second one was set to be held in USA 2017,[2] and the third and latest one was set in Vienna in 2022 after a two-year delay due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The next one will be held in Tokyo, Japan in 2025.
History
The idea of the world championship was advocated by Martin Rep, who presented it to players across the world, including Japan. It gained support, and the French club TNT proposed to hold the first championship in France. The championship was supported by the EMA, the USPML and the JPML.
When the first championship concluded, the creation of the Committee and the next championship in USA were announced during the prize ceremony. The second championship will be held in 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Committee
The World Riichi Championship Committee was estabilished to ensure that more championship tournaments are held, and that they are as good as possible. The current members include:
- Gemma Sakamoto (UK, ambassador between Japan and Europe)
- Sylvain Malbec (France, creator of World Riichi Rule)
- Shigekazu Moriyama (Japan, JPML president)
- Tina Christensen (Denmark, EMA president)
- David Bresnick (USA, organizer of next WRC)
- Martin Rep (Netherlands, WRC initiator, ambassador between Japan and Europe)
- Scott D. Miller (USA, current Mahjong News editor-in-chief)
- Garthe Nelson (USA, JPML member, ambassador between America and Japan)
- Jenn Barr (USA, JPML member, ambassador between America and Japan)
Ruleset
The specific ruleset was created for the first World Championship. It combines contemporary Japanese and European rule variants. Future, modifications to the rulebook are handled by the Committee.
Tournaments
| # | Year | Location | Organizer | Nations | Players | Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014 | Paris, France | Tri Nitro Tiles | 23 | 120 | Hiroshi Yamai (Japan) |
| 2 | 2017 | Las Vegas, United States | USPML | 26 | 240 | Masaharu Tomotake (Japan) |
| 3 | 2022 | Vienna, Austria | Kasu | 34 | 152 | Keijun Nara (Japan) |
| 4 | 2025 | Tokyo, Japan | JPML |