Rinshan kaihou
Rinshan kaihou 「嶺上開花」 is a standard yaku, where a player wins with the rinshanpai, or the replacement tile after forming a kantsu. As such, this yaku is only accessible via kan calls. As the player wins with the tile draw from the dead wall, every instance of this yaku is won by self draw (tsumo) and never by discard (ron).
| Type | Yaku |
|---|---|
| Kanji | 嶺上開花 |
| English | Dead wall draw |
| Value | 1 han |
| Speed | Varies |
| Difficulty | Hard |
Meaning
Rinshan kaihou literally means "flowering 「開花」 on the range 「嶺上」". In a sense, the dead wall is treated or viewed as a "mountain", where the winning tile after the kan draw symbolizes as a "flowering" effect.
Kan procedure
When calling kan, a player must draw an extra tile, and that tile comes from the dead wall. This is the rinshanpai 「嶺上牌」. If the hand is completed with this tile draw, then this yaku is awarded. It is possible for rinshan to be the only yaku for the hand, though it is usually combined with other yaku.
Setting up rinshan kaihou
Like any hand, this yaku requires tenpai to even have a chance of winning. While the hand retains a tile for a timed kan call, the hand would at best be at 1-shanten. As such, the fourth tile for kan counts as an extra tile. If that tile is in the hand, it actually takes up one tile space, that could be used for normal hand development. Therefore, tenpai is acquired upon a needed tile draw.
Tenpai, with chance for rinshan: Example
Draw: 
Waiting for: 
The 5-man draw places this hand in tenpai with a tile needed to be discarded. In order for this hand to proceed to tenpai, either kan must be called or one of the hatsu is to be discarded. If after the kan, a dead wall draw of 7-sou awards rinshan kaihou. Otherwise, the unwanted rinshanpai may be discarded and riichi be called.
Compatibility
^ Ippatsu requires riichi to be of any use.
| RCH | DRI | IPP | SMO | TAN | PFU | IPK | ITT | YAK | SDJ | SDO | TOI | SNA | SNK | CHA | JUN | RPK | SSG | HRO | HON | CHN | CHI | RIN | HAI | HOU | CHK | |
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Rinshan kaihou is generally compatible with any hand that can accommodate a kan call. This rules out pinfu, ryanpeikou, and chiitoitsu, as these hands do not allow kan. Chankan, haitei, and houtei all require winning from a different location than a kan replacement tile (another player's kan, the live wall, and another player's discard, respectively) and so cannot combine with rinshan. Finally, a kan would interrupt a chance for ippatsu.
With haitei
Rinshan kaihou cannot be combined with haitei, a yaku for calling tsumo on the final tile from the live wall. When winning on the replacement tile after a kan, tsumo is not called on any tile from the live wall, but on a tile from the dead wall. However, the last tile draw indicated by the haiteihai is defined as the last tile to be drawn from the live wall, not the dead wall.
Sekinin barai
Some rule systems impose a liability payment, called sekinin barai or pao, on the discarder of a kanned tile in the event of a rinshan kaihou win.
If this rule is in effect, whenever a player starts his turn by calling kan on a discard, the discarder is liable for the entire price of the caller's hand until end of turn. If the caller calls tsumo on the replacement tile after the daiminkan, payments occur as if he called ron against the liable player. If the caller continues to make ankan or shominkan on the same turn, then wins on a replacement tile, payments again occur like a ron against the liable player. When the caller discards a tile, the discarder of the kanned tile is no longer liable.
External links
- Rinshan kaihou in Japanese Wikipedia