Core riichi mahjong terms

Opening your hand by calling chi, pon, or kan. It speeds up completion but removes closed-hand bonuses such as riichi and menzen tsumo.

A declaration made with a closed tenpai hand. You place 1000 points and gain access to riichi-related bonuses while applying pressure to opponents.

A ready hand that is one tile away from winning. The quality of tenpai depends heavily on the wait shape.

The distance from tenpai. Zero shanten means ready, one shanten means one step away, and larger values indicate a slower hand.

The exact wait pattern of a ready hand, such as ryanmen, kanchan, penchan, tanki, or shanpon.

A completed three-tile block, either a sequence or a triplet. Standard winning hands normally require four mentsu and one pair.

An incomplete two-tile block that may later become a full mentsu. Examples include ryanmen, kanchan, penchan, and pairs.

A wall read created when all four copies of a tile are visible, making some neighboring shapes impossible or less likely.

A relative safety read derived from discard patterns and the structure of two-sided waits.

A tile discarded directly from the hand rather than the one just drawn. It often reveals more intention than tsumogiri.

Discarding the tile you just drew without changing your hand structure.

A maneuvering line that mixes offense and defense by discarding relatively safe tiles while preserving hand progress.

A full fold. You stop attacking and prioritize the safest available tiles.

Silent tenpai. You keep a ready hand without declaring riichi in order to stay hidden or wait for improvement.

Winning by drawing the needed tile yourself.

Winning from another player’s discard.

The multiplier-like unit used to value a hand. Han and fu together determine the final score.

Mini-points awarded for hand structure, wait shape, and win method. Fu combines with han to produce the score.

A top-tier limit hand such as Kokushi Musou or Suuankou.

A basic one-han closed hand made of sequences, a non-value pair, and a two-sided wait.

A tile that cannot be justified as relatively safe through suuji logic.

A tile already discarded by the target opponent and therefore completely safe against that opponent.

An exhaustive draw when the wall runs out before anyone wins.

Dealing into an opponent’s winning hand with your discard.

A restriction preventing ron when your own discarded tiles include your winning tile or when same-turn conditions apply.

Chasing riichi after another player has already declared riichi.

A two-sided wait, usually the strongest and most flexible wait shape.