Fewer tiles, sharper game
Sichuan mahjong uses only the three suits — 108 tiles — with no winds, dragons or flowers. Chows cannot be called; players may only pung and kong. The result is a game of pure suit management.
Declaring a missing suit
At the start, each player chooses one suit to abandon (定缺) and must discard all tiles of that suit before winning. A winning hand may therefore contain at most two suits.
The bloody battle
In xuezhan daodi ("bloody battle to the end"), the hand does not stop when someone wins. The winner drops out, and the others continue until three players have won or the wall runs out. Kongs pay immediately, and players who are not ready at the end may have to pay those who are.
A Chengdu institution
Sichuan mahjong is played everywhere in Chengdu and Chongqing, in teahouses, parks and homes, and is one of China's most popular online styles. Its rules are quick to learn but produce intense, high-scoring games.
