Join in person Mahjong on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.! Under the skillful guidance of volunteer instructor Joyce Kral, beginner and seasoned players are welcomed to learn this fun game of skill, strategy and luck. This activity will be ongoing at Speer Hall each Thursday at 10 am unless otherwise noted.
For a little background of the game:
Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed in 19th century China. It is commonly played by four players – although three people can also make a fun game.
Mahjong uses a set of 144 tiles showing Chinese pictographs. The Simple Suit tiles consist of 4 copies of tiles numbered 1 to nine in each of the three Suits: Bamboo (36 tiles), Circles (36 tiles), and Characters (36 tiles). The Honors tiles consist of 4 copies of the 4 Winds tiles (16 tiles), and 4 copies of the 3 Dragons tiles (12 tiles). There are also 8 Bonus tiles consisting of 4 Seasons tiles, and 4 Flowers tiles.
Each player is dealt 13 tiles and by turns, players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form four melds (sets of three tiles) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with a small class of special hands. While many variations of mahjong exist, most variations have some basic rules in common, including how a piece is drawn and discarded, how a piece is robbed from another player, the use of suits (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and dragons), the basic kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play.
If you are ready to play Mahjong, make sure to sign up today!