<p><a href="http://santiago.mapache.org/games/mahjong/rules.html" rel="noreferrer">This set of rules for Chinese Mahjong</a> might be a little terse, but are essentially the rules I have always played with.   The last chart gives a nice limited set of honor hands too.</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-10-28T15:01:12.757Z
2010-10-28T15:01:12.757Z
John M
<p>The simplest ruleset is Hong Kong Old Style (HKOS). It has simple scoring and very few special hands. Other forms may have few special hands but complex scoring - or simple scoring but many special hands to learn - or complex scoring <em>and</em> many special hands to learn (like American Mahjong).</p>

<p>If you want even simpler rules, have a look at these <a href="http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq02.htm" rel="noreferrer">ultra-simplified Chinese rules</a>. They even omit Kan and most of scoring, so you can understand and explain them in a few minutes. From experience I would say they are a good way to start. Once you got the basics, you can gradually add more rules of the HKOS set, and eventually also have a look at other rulesets.</p>

<p>One thing I especially like about the ultra-simplified rules is how scoring works:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Whoever won gets a chip or a coin from
  everybody. Or just use the "ooh and
  aah" method. When somebody wins,
  everybody goes "ooh." You can keep
  track of score on a piece of paper
  too. Make a tick mark next to the
  winner's name. Whatever works for you.</p>
  
  <p>If you want to make things really
  exciting, award an extra chip, coin,
  or "aah" for a pung of dragons or
  winds.</p>
  
  <p>If you want to recognize dragon or
  wind pungs for all players (not only
  for the player who goes mah-jongg),
  you can do that. It might be possible
  for a non-winning player to get a
  higher score than a winner, if you
  allow this. But that's OK, if you like
  it that way.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-10-30T21:22:28.790Z
2010-10-30T21:27:47.743Z
2010-10-30T21:27:47.743Z
mafu
<p>I'm generally a fan of Riichi Mahjong, but what I use for teaching beginners is <a href="https://mcgillmahjong.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-quick-look-at-mahjong-around-world_31.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zung Jung</a>, a very simple and logical ruleset. See the scoring chart <a href="http://www.mahjong.nu/zung-jung-mahjong-summary/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> - it's easy to apply (no "small points" and "multipliers", only one limit), and the point values are adequate to the effort required for a given pattern. At the same time, you can find most of the commonly used patterns in Chinese and Japanese mahjong, so a transition to a more complicated system shouldn't be a problem.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-04T22:50:57.417Z
I searched for materials and updated the links with best alternative articles I cound find. I hope this helps.
hmp
CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-01-27T16:03:14.730Z
2018-12-04T22:49:56.777Z
2018-12-04T22:49:56.777Z
hmp
<p>My preferred ruleset is Mahjong Competition Rules, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guobiao_Majiang" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guobiao_Majiang</a> (I don't think anyone in the west call them by the name Guobiao though, or at least I have yet to hear anyone do so, even at major tournaments). The rules can also be found at <a href="http://mahjong-europe.org/" rel="nofollow">http://mahjong-europe.org/</a>.</p>

<p>These may seem very complicated at first, but the scoring itself is fairly straightforward (just add whatever patterns are on the hand), and due to the large number of patterns, there will almost always be plenty of opportunities to pick different directions during the course of a hand.</p>

<p>A good way to get to know the rules is to start playing without the 8-point requirement and then spend some time figuring out the actual score of each hand, to get used to the patterns.</p>

<p>The ruleset also has the advantage (at least in Europe) that many of the large cities will have some club or similar playing by the ruleset, which gives an opportunity to get to know other players.<br>
There are also a decent number of tournaments using the ruleset, and most of them (barring the European and World Championships) are open to everyone and generally have a very friendly atmosphere.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-14T11:55:46.440Z
2015-04-14T11:55:46.440Z
Tobias Kildetoft
<p>According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong#Selected_Variations_Compared" rel="nofollow">this</a> table, Hong Kong, Classical (Babcock's red-book rules), and Korean variations fit your criteria.</p>

<p>Having said that, <a href="http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules%3akorean-overview" rel="nofollow">this page</a> state that Korean rules don't use seasons.</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-10-27T08:35:03.113Z
2010-10-27T08:35:03.113Z
gkrogers
<p>I play Mahjong with friends every now and then, using a set of rules that we sort of invented along the way: we knew the basics, but had no internet connection for one summer and played with what made the most sense. Now, we'd like to settle on established rules, but there are so many of them... I'd like to have rules that are:</p>

<ul>
<li>stable (no changing every year like American Mahjong)</li>
<li>uses a 14-tiles hand, 4 winds, 3 dragons, flowers and seasons, no jokers</li>
<li>scoring doesn't have to be zero-sum operation (we don't play money)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T20:43:43.207Z
If you believe it, there's one regional variant in China that allows chowing winds.
Joe Z.
<mahjong>
What Mahjong set of rules can be recommended to beginners?
F'x
# What Mahjong set of rules can be recommended to beginners?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2010-10-23)

I play Mahjong with friends every now and then, using a set of rules that we sort of invented along the way: we knew the basics, but had no internet connection for one summer and played with what made the most sense. Now, we'd like to settle on established rules, but there are so many of them... I'd like to have rules that are:

* stable (no changing every year like American Mahjong)
* uses a 14-tiles hand, 4 winds, 3 dragons, flowers and seasons, no jokers
* scoring doesn't have to be zero-sum operation (we don't play money)

**Tags:** mahjong

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you believe it, there's one regional variant in China that allows chowing winds.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2010-10-28. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

[This set of rules for Chinese Mahjong](http://santiago.mapache.org/games/mahjong/rules.html) might be a little terse, but are essentially the rules I have always played with. The last chart gives a nice limited set of honor hands too.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2010-10-30. Score: 6

The simplest ruleset is Hong Kong Old Style (HKOS). It has simple scoring and very few special hands. Other forms may have few special hands but complex scoring - or simple scoring but many special hands to learn - or complex scoring *and* many special hands to learn (like American Mahjong).

If you want even simpler rules, have a look at these [ultra-simplified Chinese rules](http://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq02.htm). They even omit Kan and most of scoring, so you can understand and explain them in a few minutes. From experience I would say they are a good way to start. Once you got the basics, you can gradually add more rules of the HKOS set, and eventually also have a look at other rulesets.

One thing I especially like about the ultra-simplified rules is how scoring works:

> Whoever won gets a chip or a coin from
> everybody. Or just use the "ooh and
> aah" method. When somebody wins,
> everybody goes "ooh." You can keep
> track of score on a piece of paper
> too. Make a tick mark next to the
> winner's name. Whatever works for you.
>
> If you want to make things really
> exciting, award an extra chip, coin,
> or "aah" for a pung of dragons or
> winds.
>
> If you want to recognize dragon or
> wind pungs for all players (not only
> for the player who goes mah-jongg),
> you can do that. It might be possible
> for a non-winning player to get a
> higher score than a winner, if you
> allow this. But that's OK, if you like
> it that way.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-01-27. Score: 4

I'm generally a fan of Riichi Mahjong, but what I use for teaching beginners is [Zung Jung](https://mcgillmahjong.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-quick-look-at-mahjong-around-world_31.html), a very simple and logical ruleset. See the scoring chart [here](http://www.mahjong.nu/zung-jung-mahjong-summary/) - it's easy to apply (no "small points" and "multipliers", only one limit), and the point values are adequate to the effort required for a given pattern. At the same time, you can find most of the commonly used patterns in Chinese and Japanese mahjong, so a transition to a more complicated system shouldn't be a problem.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I searched for materials and updated the links with best alternative articles I cound find. I hope this helps.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-04-14. Score: 2

My preferred ruleset is Mahjong Competition Rules, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guobiao_Majiang> (I don't think anyone in the west call them by the name Guobiao though, or at least I have yet to hear anyone do so, even at major tournaments). The rules can also be found at <http://mahjong-europe.org/>.

These may seem very complicated at first, but the scoring itself is fairly straightforward (just add whatever patterns are on the hand), and due to the large number of patterns, there will almost always be plenty of opportunities to pick different directions during the course of a hand.

A good way to get to know the rules is to start playing without the 8-point requirement and then spend some time figuring out the actual score of each hand, to get used to the patterns.

The ruleset also has the advantage (at least in Europe) that many of the large cities will have some club or similar playing by the ruleset, which gives an opportunity to get to know other players.  
There are also a decent number of tournaments using the ruleset, and most of them (barring the European and World Championships) are open to everyone and generally have a very friendly atmosphere.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2010-10-27. Score: 2

According to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong#Selected_Variations_Compared) table, Hong Kong, Classical (Babcock's red-book rules), and Korean variations fit your criteria.

Having said that, [this page](http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules%3akorean-overview) state that Korean rules don't use seasons.


---

