Tile Restriction (1)
On the previous page, we only gave a rough explanation of defending against open hands. But when an opponent is already calling, there are also situations where you do not want to let them call any further.
Holding back the tiles they most want to call and refusing to put them into the pond is called tile restriction.
So what exactly does that accomplish?
1. What Tile Restriction Is For
By restricting, you stop the opponent from entering tenpai. In other words, it is an action taken to prevent their win.
In mahjong, if the opponent never reaches tenpai, you can never lose points to that hand. So the basic idea is simple: before they get to tenpai, do not put out the tiles they are most likely to want.
That is the basic logic of tile restriction.
If you only start folding after the opponent is already in tenpai, they may still tsumo, or one of the other two players may deal in to them. As a way to stop the point gap from widening, or from being closed, tile restriction can be effective.
2. The Drawbacks of Tile Restriction
If you keep holding tiles that have nothing to do with your own hand, your own tenpai will naturally slow down. If your hand is a real hand worth fighting with, you should usually advance it as straight as possible.
Also, mahjong is not played against just one opponent.
If you mark one player too hard, the other two become freer as a result. Some people even get pleasure from restricting others, but do not do it pointlessly and end up hurting only yourself.
3. When You Should Restrict
(1) The Opponent Has Already Started Calling
This is obvious, but it is the prerequisite. If nobody has called yet, there is no need to fear being called on. Do not be afraid of shadows that are not there.
Of course, if someone is very obviously going for a flush, that is a different story.
(2) The Target Is Your Direct Rival in the Point Race
For example, suppose it is South 2. You are in first with 42000 points, and the player on your left is in second with 39000.
In that point situation, you effectively have only one immediate rival. If that second-place player starts calling, then choosing to restrict them so they do not win easily is entirely reasonable.
(3) The Target's Really Dangerous Tiles Have Been Narrowed Down
If you intend to stop every possible tile, that is basically the same as a full fold. And if you start folding too much before the opponent is even in tenpai, you can end up in a miserable position: once they really do reach tenpai, you are already running out of safe tiles.
So restriction only makes sense when the dangerous tiles are already somewhat limited. For example:
- the opponent is going for honitsu or chinitsu
- the opponent is doing yakuhai atozuke
- it is late in the hand and only a small number of dangerous tiles remain unpassed
In short, the danger range must already have narrowed. If the dangerous tiles are still everywhere, forcing restriction only invites self-destruction.
In other words: you should not be restricting from the opening.
(4) Ideally, You Are the Target's Kamicha
Only kamicha can stop the opponent from chiing. If you are not their kamicha, in many cases meaningful restriction is not possible at all.
As for pon, even if you hold back one copy, there are four of every tile in mahjong. Very often, while you are carefully holding it, someone else casually discards one and the opponent pons anyway, which means your restriction only hurt you.
So if you are not kamicha and still want to restrict, at minimum you should only hold back:
- tiles that are very likely to be ponned
- or tiles whose damage would be especially severe if they were ponned, such as dora
Conditions (1) through (4) do not all have to be true at the same time. But unless at least two of them are satisfied, you usually should not be restricting.
The next page will look at more concrete examples of tile restriction.
Original Japanese page: http://beginners.biz/mamori/mamori11.html