The British craze
Mahjong reached Britain in the early 1920s through people returning from China and from the American fad. Clubs and drawing rooms took it up, and British writers published rule books. Over time a distinct set of "British rules" emerged, with its own scoring traditions, still played by some clubs today.
The game also spread through the British Empire and Commonwealth, following families and officials who had lived in Asia.
Continental Europe
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy all had mahjong fads in the 1920s; sets and rule books were printed in many languages. A Spanish rule book published in Madrid in 1923, for instance, explained the game for Spanish players with diagrams of the wall and example hands.
Interest declined after the 1930s, but small groups of players kept the game alive, especially in the Netherlands, which developed a strong club tradition.
The modern competitive scene
In the early 2000s European players organised around the new Chinese competition rules. The European Mahjong Association was founded in 2005 at the first Open European Mahjong Championship in the Netherlands, and now brings together around two dozen national organisations. It runs European championships in both MCR and Riichi.
Countries such as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic have active national associations, rankings and regular tournaments.
Riichi in Europe
Japanese riichi mahjong grew in Europe from the 2000s, helped by anime, manga, online games and conventions. Japan-themed festivals in France and Switzerland have hosted mahjong areas, and the European Riichi Championship became a major event on the calendar.
