Rinshan kaihou
Rinshan kaihou 「嶺上開花」 is a standard yaku, obtained when a player declares kan and wins with the tile drawn immediately after.
| Type | Yaku |
|---|---|
| Kanji | 嶺上開花 |
| English | Dead wall draw |
| Value | 1 han |
| Speed | Varies |
| Difficulty | Hard |
In sanma, this yaku can also be obtained after declaring kita and winning with the tile drawn after. (Technically, rinshan is scored when winning with a rinshanpai, or a tile drawn from the dead wall. Both kan and kita cause a draw from the dead wall, so this yaku can be scored after a kan/kita.
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.
Procedure
When calling kan, a player must draw an extra tile from the dead wall. This is known as 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, winning with rinshan requires tenpai to even have a chance of winning. There are two ways to do this.
1. The hand is already in tenpai, and draws/calls the tile required to kan.
Draw: Waiting for: 
The hand is already in tenpai, and is able to call kan without impacting the hand's waits, giving the chance for rinshan.
2. The hand is in 1-shanten, is currently holding a extra tile that enables kan, then enters tenpai with another draw.
- Draw:
Waiting for:
Before drawing 5-man, the 4th hatsu was an extra tile that does not contribute to the hand. After drawing 5-man, the hand will enter tenpai as soon as the hatsu is discarded. Alternatively, the hand can call kan, entering tenpai by melding the extra hatsu. If the draw was 7-sou, the hand can win with rinshan. 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 compatible with almost 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.
Sanma
In sanma, rinshan can be won after declaring kita, since each kita call also draws a tile from the dead wall. Thus, rinshan can be scored with pinfu, ryanpeikou, and chiitoitsu. The only yaku ineligible are ippatsu, chankan, haitei, and houtei.
Sekinin barai
Some rulesets 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. After the caller discards a tile, the discarder of the kanned tile is no longer liable.
External links
- Rinshan kaihou in Japanese Wikipedia