Home
>
Foodlovers Non-Foodie Chat
>
Topic
Foodlovers Foodtalk Forum
Mahjong
Posted by Noeleen
I cannot get my head around 'chows'. I play in a private group where we dont count. I have just been told that you can only chow on a 'ordinary mahjong' hand as it's not concealed. You cannot chow on any hand that is concealed. Ive looked up on internet and cannot find the answer. Is this correct.
Hope someone can help me!!
Hope someone can help me!!
Re: Mahjong June 25, 2021 12:03AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,660 |
I used to play mahjong when I was a teenager, when it first became popular in NZ but I can't remember anything about the rules, except it was fun!
This page might help [www.sloperama.com].
It has quite a bit of discussion about chow, including the following:
How often can I chow?
On Thursday, October 15, 2020, 04:42:20 PM PDT, Frances S wrote:
mah jong
Love your site, thank you.
If someone is doing a chow hand, say crazy chows, how often can they pick up a discarded tile from the left to complete a chow.?
I was told you could only do it once.
Thank you. Frances S I am in New Zealand.
You were told right, Frances! But you have misconstrued the rule. In the mah-jongg rules you play (British/Australian/Western rules), there are Ordinary Hands and there are special hands. An ordinary hand may contain only one chow. There are also special hands which explicitly require chows.
After checking several books on Australian/British/Western rules, I found Crazy Chows in Thompson & Maloney's The Mah Jong Player's Companion. That hand specifically requires four "Mixed" chows (also known in other books as "knitted" chows) - not regular chows. There are several chow hands listed in that book - usually they require three chows, one in each suit. Those special hands are often Concealed hands (meaning you can't claim a discard except for mah-jongg). Thompson & Maloney describe the "Ordinary Hand," which may include no more than one chow. I haven't looked through all the special chow hands to see if any are exposable. If none are, then Ordinary Hand is the only time when you're allowed to expose a chow made from a discard.
I urge you to get yourself a good book. I recommend the Thompson & Maloney book I named, since your companions surely are using terminology from that book, and may be playing from that book. You should ask what books they use. More books on Western/British/Australian rules are listed in FAQ 3.
Play safely and stay healthy. And may the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Author of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
October 15, 2020
Los Angeles, California, USA
This page might help [www.sloperama.com].
It has quite a bit of discussion about chow, including the following:
How often can I chow?
On Thursday, October 15, 2020, 04:42:20 PM PDT, Frances S wrote:
mah jong
Love your site, thank you.
If someone is doing a chow hand, say crazy chows, how often can they pick up a discarded tile from the left to complete a chow.?
I was told you could only do it once.
Thank you. Frances S I am in New Zealand.
You were told right, Frances! But you have misconstrued the rule. In the mah-jongg rules you play (British/Australian/Western rules), there are Ordinary Hands and there are special hands. An ordinary hand may contain only one chow. There are also special hands which explicitly require chows.
After checking several books on Australian/British/Western rules, I found Crazy Chows in Thompson & Maloney's The Mah Jong Player's Companion. That hand specifically requires four "Mixed" chows (also known in other books as "knitted" chows) - not regular chows. There are several chow hands listed in that book - usually they require three chows, one in each suit. Those special hands are often Concealed hands (meaning you can't claim a discard except for mah-jongg). Thompson & Maloney describe the "Ordinary Hand," which may include no more than one chow. I haven't looked through all the special chow hands to see if any are exposable. If none are, then Ordinary Hand is the only time when you're allowed to expose a chow made from a discard.
I urge you to get yourself a good book. I recommend the Thompson & Maloney book I named, since your companions surely are using terminology from that book, and may be playing from that book. You should ask what books they use. More books on Western/British/Australian rules are listed in FAQ 3.
Play safely and stay healthy. And may the tiles be with you.
Tom Sloper
Author of "The Red Dragon & The West Wind," the definitive book on Mah-Jongg East & West.
Author of the Sloper On Mah-Jongg column and the Mah-Jongg FAQs -- donations appreciated.
October 15, 2020
Los Angeles, California, USA
Re: Mahjong June 25, 2021 03:45AM |
Registered: 3 years ago Posts: 75 |
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.