Mah Jong Handbook

by Ellie Whitney and Eleanor Noss Whitney

Book Overview

Master the game of Mahjong with this must-have game strategy guide for Mahjong beginners and enthusiasts. Originally played with cards, and then piece carved from ivory or bamboo, the Chinese game of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804803927
• ISBN13: 9780804803922
• Release Date: January 1964
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A tour de force

The Mah Jong Handbook presents an amazingly clear method for approaching the game. The book is easy-to-read, but deals with every aspect of the game in detail.To get the most out of the book, I recommend taking the time to work through the example exercises yourself (before going on to the analysis discussion.) Once you've gone through the book this way, you'll pretty much know everything that an expert player knows. The only thing left is to get in enough playing time to put the theory into practice.In addition to the game aspects, the book discusses the accompanying rituals and etiquette, as well as many variations on the rules.

An excellently write book on Japanese mah jong!

This is an excellent book for the Japanese mah jong enthusiast! If you want to learn to kick some ...in Japanese mah jong definitely buy this book. It is well worth the money. I think that the strategies for offense and defense are really good. It has really helped me improve my game. I have returned to the book over and over for more help. Read and learn and then immediately apply it to your game....

Outstanding system of play.

This book outlines what is probably the best and most playable set of rules for Mah Jong. While the game is centuries old and there exist many ways of play, the Japanese system relies less on chance and gives the players the most opportunity to use strategy. This makes the game more involving, and your partners are more likely to stay for the entire game -- many of the "chancier" versions of this game become dull after a while because no understanding or skill is required. This book is thorough and it's section on strategy is excellent. It also has score cards which can be copied from the book. I believe this to be the definitive book on the subject.

A must for anyone wanting to learn to play Mah Jong Quickly

How many times have you wanted to play a game of Mah Jong but you you are bombarded with different rule books on the subject - each one giving a more confusing set of scoring instructions There are many times when I have encountered this problem especially when teaching newcomers the game We play using Eleanor Noss Whitney's "A Mah Jong Handbook" as our rules which we find of all the other books on Mah Jong the easiest and most understandable set of rules compared to all teh others which clutter the field with a multitude of sets and scoring tables that make the game a nightmare to play Her rules are Clear, Concise, Unambiguous and simple to use I use her book to teach all newcomers the game and everyone agrees that her rules are the best I show them the scoring from the other books and their examples and explain to them that there are many other variations regarding the scoring and everyone opts for the simple version without any complicationsI would heartly recomend this book to everyone if they want to get into playing the game within inside a hour of opening the book There is plain simple concise instuctions that dont confuse you with umpteen different names for the same Mah Jong scoreing handIf there is one book you should get to learn and play Mah Jong - It should be this one - You wont regret it

simply the best

The best book there is in English on the game. Organized as follows:Part One: The Official Game.1. The Mah Jong Set2. Preliminaries3. Playing4. ScoringPart Two: Alternatives, Variations and Additions.1. The Mah Jong Set2. Preliminaries3. Playing4. Scoring5. American ScoringPart Three: Strategy.1. Luck and Skill2. Offensive Strategy3. Defensive Strategy