Return of the Super-Mega Competition - win a mahjong book!

[York1jm]

Thanks Barticle,

The book you sent to me also arrived yesterday and it is great. The strategy section is very interesting and should be helpful. I have read the same kind of thing on other Japanese sites, but it is kinda nice to see it in English for once. Thanks again

[Barticle]

Another safe arrival - good.

The section on strategy in Eleanor Noss Whitney's book is easily the best I've seen in English, and generally applicable to most forms of mahjong too.

[Fat*Dragon]

The section on strategy in Eleanor Noss Whitney's book is easily the best I've seen in English, and generally applicable to most forms of mahjong too.

Absolutely right! If you're serious about the game this one is a must.

@Barticle

What about the title "Teach Yourself: Mahjong from 2001 by David Pritchard"?
Is it helpful in any way? Compared to Noss Whitney what's your rating?

[Barticle]

Hey FD.

Well, it was second prize for a reason but it's still a good read and worth a look I think. There are several sections on general rules but these are based mainly around Chinese classical. Also chapters on "advanced" strategy (17 pages), 2/3/5/6-player variants, American, other variants, cards, history, reference and a glossary.

There's a chapter on Japanese too but only three pages and not very well researched. It mentions dora, but not ura/kan dora. Riichi costs 100 pts (should of course be 1000 under modern rules). Pinfu and furiten are explained incorrectly (and furiten is referred to as "fu"). He says an abortive draw occurs when four *exposed* kongs are declared (should be any) and says "this seems a curious rule" (but there are only four kan dora indicators and four supplement tiles in the dead wall). Most oddly he illustrates a "mixed pung" where you can make a set composed of (for example) 1p, 1m and 1s. Erm...?

There are at least two editions of the book. The one from 2001 has a cover illustration showing hands shuffling black-backed tiles. The 2007 has a brighter cover showing tile fronts plus red and blue dice. The latter is about 30-40 pages longer than the original and adds chapters with good coverage of the new Chinese Official rules and playing on computer.

There's a nice new version of Noss Whitney too btw. I don't have it but saw it in a bookshop - all new illustrations throughout. Photos I think?

[Barticle]

good coverage of the new Chinese Official rules

I should note however, in this respect it's poor in comparison to Tom's book!

[Referee]

I wanted the second book for the Kokushi Juusanmen bookmark.

[xKime]

That's good to know. You're very welcome - hope you find it interesting.

I've just started reading a book (literally a few pages, a few minutes ago) entitled Thirteen Orphans! It's a contemporary fantasy novel by Jane Lindskold, evidently combining magic with concepts from the Chinese zodiac and mahjong. The sequel is called Nine Gates.

I look forward to the third installment in the series, Man's Blessing. lol

[Barticle]

There's plenty of potential for cool names but actually the third book was released earlier this year under the strange title Five Odd Honors...?

I wanted the second book for the Kokushi Juusanmen bookmark.

'Tis a thing of beauty indeed, and if you inspect the pic closely you'll see both books had one!

[xKime]

[quote="Barticle"]There's plenty of potential for cool names but actually the third book was released earlier this year under the strange title Five Odd Honors...?

Creativity decreases over time, I guess. Even "Big Three Dragons" would have been great. With the number "three" and all.

Anyhow, I wish I had taken part in this competition. I woudn't have won, anyway.

[Fat*Dragon]

@xKime

I woudn't have won, anyway.

You mean you knew that you wouldn't have had a chance for the big price? Man, you really must have used up your luck for all those sweet yakumans you posted last week!

@Barticle
thanks for your report. I'm always looking for good books. But it seems to me that "Teach Yourself: Mahjong from 2001 by David Pritchard" won't make it to my bookshelf.

[xKime]

@xKime

I woudn't have won, anyway.

You mean you knew that you wouldn't have had a chance for the big price? Man, you really must have used up your luck for all those sweet yakumans you posted last week!

Nah, I would have chosen a tile that didn't win.

Lol, I got another one (little winds/shou suu shii) yesterday, actually.

[Fat*Dragon]

So you pulled another one off! Unbelievable... I read the story on "yakuman club". With this streak of luck you should have won both books from Barticle!

[Barticle]

Both books - heh!

I have a lot of English books, old and new, but only a few of the modern ones are noteworthy. Amy Lo's The Book of Mahjong covers the Cantonese game (plus chapters on Shanghai and 16-tile Taiwanese rules) with plenty of diagrams and colour photos. Jelte Rep's The Great Mahjong Book (translated to English from the original Dutch) gives nice coverage of Chinese plus individual chapters on eight national variants including 30 pages on Japanese and colour pics throughout. Jenn's Reach Mahjong is the only to properly cover the modern Japanese rules although for the sake of accessibility she uses only English terminology in the main text (with Japanese terms listed in the comprehensive appended glossary). None are without errors.

I should give the title of Tom's book too - The Red Dragon & the West Wind gives a complete and detailed reference for American and CO rules.