Tenhou, chiihou, and renhou

Tenhou and chiihou are yakuman, closed only. Tenhou is the dealer winning on the 14 tiles of the deal. Chiihou is a non-dealer winning by tsumo on their first draw, before any chi, pon, or kan. Renhou is a ron before your first draw, and its value depends on the rule set.

One name clash first. The yakuman is 天和, tenhou, the heavenly hand. The online server tenhou.net is 天鳳, also read Tenhou. On this page, "Tenhou's rules" means the server's rules, and "tenhou" in lower case means the hand.

Chiihou (地和) is the earthly hand and renhou (人和) the hand of man. This site's glossary lists them as Heavenly Hand, Earthly Hand, and Hand of Man. The EMA 2016 rules call them Blessing of Heaven, Blessing of Earth, and Blessing of Man.

What ends the first turn

All three need an uninterrupted first go-around. Any call before your win ends it: a chi, a pon, or a kan, and a closed kan is a call too.

• Tenhou's rules: tenhou and chiihou are a win on the first draw with no pon, kan, chi, or closed kan before it (ポン/カン/チー/暗槓の入らない第1ツモでの和了).
• Mahjong Soul: its Japanese FAQ defines chiihou as a non-dealer in tenpai on the deal who wins on the first draw with no pon, chi, or kan from anyone (誰の鳴き(ポン・チー・カン)も入らないで第1ツモで和了). Tenhou is a dealer whose dealt hand is already complete.
• EMA 2016 (section 4.2.5): both say "Concealed kong is not allowed". Chiihou is a self-draw in "the very first un-interrupted set of turns".

A closed kan by the dealer before the first discard ends tenhou. A win on the replacement tile is rinshan kaihou and menzen tsumo, not a yakuman.

Double riichi uses the same first go-around, and the same calls end it.

In three-player games, pulling a north (kita) counts as a call as well. Tenhou's rules list chiihou among what a north removes.

Tenhou: the dealer's dealt hand

As the dealer you take 14 tiles in the deal. These are yours before your first discard.

The 14 tiles are already a finished hand. Declare tsumo and it's tenhou. Each player pays 16,000, 48,000 in all.

The man tiles split two ways. Read them as three triplets and the hand holds sanankou. Read them as 123 man three times and it holds runs instead. Neither reading changes the payment. A yakuman pays the limit however the tiles split, with no fu, no ordinary yaku, and no dora on top. The yakuman page lists the limit for every seat.

Chiihou: a non-dealer's first draw

You're a non-dealer. These are your 13 tiles after the deal, and nobody has called yet.

The hand waits on or , from both sides. You draw one of them as your first tile. That's chiihou. You collect 8,000 from each other non-dealer and 16,000 from the dealer, 32,000 in all.

Draw the same tile a turn later and the yakuman is gone. The hand is menzen tsumo alone: 1 han. The fu are the base 20, plus 2 for the tsumo, plus 2 for the white dragon pair. 24 rounds up to 30. At 1 han 30 fu, you collect 300 from each other non-dealer and 500 from the dealer.

That's 32,000 against 1,100 for the same tile. Those payments have no dora, no honba, and no riichi sticks. The scoring guide shows where the limits start.

With a second yakuman

Tenhou and Mahjong Soul stack yakuman. Tenhou's rules say 役満は複合あり, and Mahjong Soul's ranked rules say 役満の複合あり. The EMA 2016 rules say "Yakuman are not cumulative", so every hand below pays one yakuman there.

Chiihou with suuankou

You're a non-dealer, and these are your 13 tiles after the deal.

The hand waits on or , a wait on two pairs. Draw either one as your first tile and the fourth triplet is concealed too. That's chiihou and suuankou, two yakuman on Tenhou and Mahjong Soul. You collect 16,000 from each other non-dealer and 32,000 from the dealer, 64,000 in all. Under the EMA 2016 rules it's 32,000.

Tenhou with thirteen orphans

As the dealer, you're dealt these 14 tiles.

That's thirteen orphans and tenhou together. Every one of the 14 tiles came in the deal, so no single tile is the winning one.

• Tenhou: two yakuman. Its rules pay the 13-sided wait as a single (国士無双十三面待ち等はすべてシングル役満), so the hand is tenhou plus one kokushi. Each player pays 32,000, 96,000 in all.
• Mahjong Soul: the two stack. Its ranked rules take the tile that scores highest as the drawn tile (天和発生時は、最も高得点となる牌をツモ牌とする). They don't say how that applies to the 13-sided wait, so this page doesn't price it.
• EMA 2016: one yakuman. Each player pays 16,000, 48,000 in all.

Renhou: a ron before your first draw

Renhou is a non-dealer's ron in the first go-around, before their first draw. The same calls that end chiihou end it. Its value changes with the rule set.

• Tenhou: not used. Its rules list 人和 among the yaku they leave out (八連荘/人和/三連刻/一色三順/十三不塔/…なし).
• Mahjong Soul ranked: not used. Its FAQ's list of yaku has no renhou, and its ranked rules leave out local yaku (役種一覧のローカル役は不採用).
• EMA 2016: a mangan. The entry sits with the five-han yaku in section 4.2.4 and says "Not cumulative with other yaku and dora." The revision notes say "Renho (Blessing of Man) is a mangan, not a yakuman", so the 2012 edition paid it as one.

Take the chiihou hand above, waiting on or . Before your first draw, the dealer discards a 5 sou. Under the EMA 2016 rules that ron is renhou, a mangan: the dealer pays you 8,000. On Tenhou and Mahjong Soul ranked you can't ron at all. The pair of white dragons rules out pinfu, the 1 man and 9 sou rule out tanyao, and the hand has no other yaku.

That spread is why the yaku list on this site has rows for tenhou and chiihou but none for renhou. The table under it gives one han value per row, and renhou has no single value to give.

Open or closed

Closed only. No call can come before the win, so there is no open version. Tenhou's rules, Mahjong Soul, and the EMA 2016 rules all rule out a call before the win. That's the row on this site: yakuman, closed only.

Common mistakes

• Mixing up the names. Tenhou the hand is 天和. Tenhou the server is 天鳳.
• Calling chiihou after a closed kan. A closed kan is a call, so it interrupts the first go-around.
• Declaring a closed kan on the deal as the dealer. The replacement tile can't make tenhou.
• Calling chiihou on a ron. Chiihou is a tsumo. A ron before your first draw is renhou, and Tenhou and Mahjong Soul ranked don't score it.
• Adding fu, ordinary yaku, or dora. A yakuman pays the limit however the tiles split.
• Paying renhou as a yakuman under the EMA 2016 rules. Since 2016 it's a mangan.

What sits with it

Ordinary yaku add nothing. Another yakuman does, on Tenhou and Mahjong Soul: suuankou, thirteen orphans, or any other closed yakuman the dealt tiles hold. The yakuman page covers how the limit stacks. Double riichi lives in the same first go-around, but it can't sit with tenhou or chiihou. A riichi needs a discard first, and chiihou wins on the draw before it.