How to play MCR
Chinese Official Mahjong, known as MCR (Mahjong Competition Rules), is the standard tournament form of the game. This guide follows one hand from the moment the wall is built to the moment someone wins or the tiles run out.
What makes MCR different
MCR was introduced in China in 1998 and revised in 2006, so that players from different communities could meet at one table and agree on the rules. It uses 144 tiles (the standard 136 plus eight flowers and seasons).
- A winning hand needs at least eight points from recognised patterns. This is the heart of the game.
- The dealer has no payment advantage, there is no riichi declaration and there are no dora tiles.
- The deal passes to the next player after every hand, even when the dealer wins.
- A full match is 16 hands: four rounds (East, South, West, North) of four hands each.
Setting up
- Seats. Decide the seats with dice or wind tiles. East deals the first hand. At tournaments the organiser may assign the seats.
- The wall. Each player builds a side of 18 stacks, two tiles high, which is 36 tiles. The dealer rolls the dice to decide where the wall is opened.
- The deal. Everyone takes 13 tiles and the dealer takes a fourteenth to start. Flowers and seasons are shown face up beside the hand and replaced with tiles from the back of the wall.
- The winds. Seat winds move one place after every hand. Four rounds of four hands make the whole match.
Taking a turn
Play goes counterclockwise. On your turn:
- Draw. Take one tile from the wall, or claim the latest discard if you can.
- Check. See whether your hand is complete and worth at least eight points.
- Discard. Put one tile face up on the table and say its name clearly.
Claiming a discard
A freshly discarded tile can be claimed by other players in these ways:
| Claim | What you need | Who may claim |
|---|---|---|
| Win | The tile completes a legal hand worth at least 8 points | Any player |
| Pung or kong | Two or three identical tiles in your hand | Any player |
| Chow | Two tiles in your hand that make a sequence with the discard | Only the next player in turn |
If several players want the same tile, a win comes first, then a pung or kong, then a chow. When two players declare a win on the same discard, the one nearer to the discarder (in turn order) takes it. Sets made from a discard are placed face up. A pung completed by the winning discard does not count as concealed when you look at concealed-pung patterns.
Kongs
A kong is four identical tiles. You can make one in three ways: from four tiles in your hand (a concealed kong), by claiming a discard when you hold three, or by adding the fourth tile to a pung you have already exposed. After a kong you draw a replacement tile from the back of the wall and then discard as usual. A kong counts as one set.
Flowers and seasons
These eight tiles never form sets. Each one adds a single point to a winning hand, but only after the hand has already reached the eight-point minimum. They cannot help you reach it.
How a hand ends
- Someone wins: the winner is paid according to the hand value (see the scoring guide).
- The wall runs out: the hand is drawn and no points change hands. The very last discard can still be claimed to win (this is called Last Tile Claim).
- Then the next hand begins, with the usual wind rotation.
Where to go next
Read how scoring works in the MCR scoring guide, then pick up a few simple patterns in the strategy guide. When you are ready, play a hand against bots.