Last updated 14th April 2026
Getting involved in live riichi competitions
Riichi has a small but thriving in-person competitive scene in the UK and Europe. Many of the players you will meet at our club are active - and successful! - in tournaments around the continent.
Am I ready to play in a tournament?
If you’ve been playing for at least a few months, the answer is almost certainly YES!
Tournaments on the EMA circuit (see below) and local tournaments are friendly, welcoming places where you will see a wide range of ability levels.
At these tournaments, yaku lists and han/fu scoring tables are provided for you. It’s not necessary to know how to score your own hand - scoring is the responsibility of all players at the table, and in a pinch you can even get help from a referee! (Of course knowing your hand’s score will help your gameplay greatly, but you can always learn that later!)
The most important thing to learn before attending a tournament is the general process of conducting an in-person game - that is, setting up the walls, drawing the initial tiles, how to make calls, things like that. Attending a few of our meetups will teach you all you need to know!
What a typical riichi tournament looks like
Riichi tournaments are usually held over one or two days. In a day, you’ll play 3-5 hanchan with different opponents, and the final scores in each hanchan are summed to determine the overall winner.
As well as raw game score, players also compete for placement in each hanchan, for which they earn bonuses (or penalties) called uma. For example, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in a hanchan may receive 15,000, 5,000, minus 5,000 and minus 15,000 to their tournament score.
What kinds of tournament can I join?
As well as local tournaments which may be organised by clubs as one-off events, there are also currently two major circuits that you should be aware of.
Local tournaments
Local riichi clubs sometimes hold their own events, normally just a single day, perhaps with a few prizes for the winners, but with no lasting consequences beyond a fun day of riichi for all attendees!
While not as common in the UK at time of writing, small local tournaments are likely to only increase in frequency as the demand for riichi grows stronger.
Past local tournaments in the UK include the Green Dragons tournament in Bakewell in 2024, the Rakkii Nomi tournament in Edinburgh in 2026, and this club’s very own team events in 2024 and 2025.
European Mahjong Association (EMA)
EMA events (with the exception of ERMC - see below) are open to everyone, and are great options for a first tournament.
You can expect a competitive, but welcoming atmosphere, with inclusivity and friendliness being the core focus. The EMA ruleset (particularly the penalty scheme) is quite forgiving, recognising the broad range of abilities present at these tournaments.
Every country in EMA can host up to 3 EMA tournaments per year, and all are open to players from any country. It’s a great excuse for some tourism!
The UK Mahjong Association is the UK’s representation in EMA. With most of its executive body based in Guildford, it’s no surprise that the most regular fixture on the UK riichi calendar, the UK Riichi Open - first run in 2009 - normally takes place in or around Guildford in early August. The two remaining slots for UK tournaments are normally used in spring and autumn, with local clubs volunteering to host on a rotating basis. Bristol Riichi Mahjong hosted one of our own in October 2025!
Results at EMA tournaments contribute to the EMA player rankings, called MERS (Mahjong Europe Ranking System), which is used to decide who gets invitations to ERMC and WRC (see below)!
World Riichi League (WRL)
This is a much newer circuit of riichi events, governed by World Riichi, who organise WRC (see below), and follows the rules used at WRC.
WRL events are also open to anyone! The format and rules are also almost identical to EMA events.
However, WRL caters more towards experienced players, with good knowledge of etiquette and strategy, seeking to play against the best players and advance their game to new heights.
More concretely, you should be completely self-sufficient in your play (including scoring), and the penalty scheme is somewhat harsher - mistakes in following protocol which might be forgiven at an EMA tournament are likely to be penalised harder at WRL. Attending a couple other tournaments first is highly recommended.
With all that said, WRL events have a special atmosphere - you can expect good spirits and camaraderie between players all walking the same path towards riichi mastery together! It’s a true test of your skills that attracts the very best players wherever their events are held (currently in Europe, North America, and with more locations joining all the time!)
World Riichi is in the process of establishing the world’s first riichi pro association available outside Japan - simply called World Riichi Pro Mahjong (WRPM) - and WRL will eventually allow pro players to progress through dan grades based on their performances. A ranking system is already established based on the small number of events already run, and can be seen here!
Major invitational tournaments
If you perform well at the above events, you may find yourself being invited to one of these prestigious tournaments!
European Riichi Mahjong Championships (ERMC)
The only EMA tournament requiring invitation, EMA hosts its premier riichi event once every three years, since 2008.
The UK normally gets allocated around 10 seats. Simply having more active UK players - no matter their results - gets us a larger allocation, so get involved, lend us your support, and it might be you carrying our hopes to produce our first European Champion!
World Riichi Championship (WRC)
WRC is the premier international riichi mahjong event, bringing together players from all over the world to compete for the title of World Riichi Champion!
WRC has taken place every three years since 2014. So far, Japanese players have won every time! Perhaps you will be the one to change that…?
Normally the UK gets around 6 seats at WRC. The best way to be considered for selection is to do your very best at EMA and WRL tournaments!
Where to find out about upcoming tournaments
The riichi community is thriving and growing all the time, but it’s still small! Most tournaments fill up mainly by advertising through existing playing circles and word-of-mouth.
By far and away your best chance at staying up to date is by joining the JanKenRon - UK Riichi Mahjong Discord server. Feel free to ask for any upcoming events when you join!
EMA and WRL have their own pages where upcoming events are advertised:
However, with some events filling up in mere days, staying abreast on chat channels like Discord is definitely recommended!
