Hanchan
A hanchan 「半荘」 is the standard length of a game of Japanese mahjong. A hanchan normally lasts for two wind rounds: East and South.
Assuming no player falls below 0 points, the shortest hanchan is 8 rounds. Games can be extended through renchan and shortened if someone is bankrupted.
Game rounds
Typical games begin with the east round, or tonkyoku 「東局」. After that, the game moves into the south round, or nankyoku 「南局」. If the target score is not met, it can go into the west round, or shaakyoku 「西局」. During the game, a dealer indicator is used to either mark the initial dealer or the current dealer. It also shows the current wind round of either East or South.
Renchan
When a renchan 「連荘」, or dealer repeat, occurs, a new hand is started but the wind seats do not change. Each renchan causes the game to last for one extra hand.
A renchan occurs when the dealer wins the hand, or after an abortive draw. In many rulesets, they also occur if the dealer is tenpai at exhaustive draw.
See also
- Tonpuusen 「東風戦」 - A shorter game length, only lasts 1 wind round
External links
- Hanchan in Japanese Wikipedia