Chinese Official Mahjong · 12 pt

Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles in Chinese Official Mahjong (MCR): Points, Examples and Odds

In Chinese Official Mahjong, Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles (全不靠) is worth 12 points: all 14 tiles are different, the suited tiles all come from one "147 / 258 / 369 across three suits" pattern (e.g. 1-4-7 characters, 2-5-8 dots, 3-6-9 bamboo), and the rest are honors, so nothing connects. No chows or pungs needed, and it clears the 8-point minimum on its own.

The rules

• Fourteen single tiles: no pairs, no eyes
• Every suited tile belongs to one knitted pattern: each suit gets one of 147, 258, 369 (e.g. characters 147, dots 258, bamboo 369 — any assignment of suits)
• The rest are honors (winds and dragons), at most one of each
• At most nine suited kinds and seven honors, so at least five honors
• Concealed: there are no sets to expose, so no chows or pungs

What it does not combine with

Under the non-repeat principle these are not counted:

• All Types (6 points): it always has all five types
• Concealed Hand (2 points) and Fully Concealed Hand (4 points): always concealed; if you self-draw, Self-Drawn (1 point) still counts
• Single Wait (1 point): there is no pair

But Knitted Straight does stack: if your nine suited tiles are a complete knitted straight, you score 24 points.

How it waits

You can only use 16 kinds (the nine of one knitted pattern plus seven honors), and need 14 of them. At tenpai you hold 13 different kinds, so the 3 kinds you're missing all win, four copies each — it's rarely a dead wait.

• First find which knitted pattern your hand fits best: which of 147, 258, 369 you hold most of in each suit
• Break up pairs and triplets: only one of each tile is allowed
• You can't chow or pung (no exposed sets), so you just wait for the win

Scoring examples

Every hand below is scored live by this site's scoring engine — the same code as the game — including the fan left out by the non-repeat rules.

How it relates to other fan

• Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles: the version with all seven honors, 24 points; replaces this fan.
• Knitted Straight: stacks when all nine suited kinds are present; a knitted straight can also sit inside a normal four-sets-and-a-pair hand.
• All Types: always present, so not counted.
• Thirteen Orphans: the other "one of each" special hand, but with terminals and honors, and it needs a pair.

Odds

How rare it is in theory

Draw 14 random tiles from 136 and the chance they form Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles (excluding the Greater version) is about 1 in 31,000,000. Like Seven Pairs, you swap your way there: how many different tiles of one knitted pattern plus honors you hold tells you how far you are (13 kinds is tenpai).

Source: 1,000,000 random 13-tile deals (flowers already replaced).

About 30% of opening hands already have 8 or more, 7.9% have 9 or more, and only 1.1% have 10 or more.

How often the AI wins with it

This site's MCR AI treats it as a route to 8 points. In 4,000 games of normal play it appeared in 3.4% of all wins (Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles another 2.2%), averaging 16.3 points, with 22% self-drawn.

When to go for it

• Many different lone honors: five or more single honors are hard to use in a normal hand and perfect here.
• Scattered suited tiles: lots of gapped tiles like 1, 4, 7 that won't form partial sets — check whether they fall into one knitted pattern.
• No pairs: lots of pairs points to Seven Pairs instead; here you need one of each.

When to give up: when you already have two or three good partial sets and pairs (a normal hand is faster), or when the tiles you need are piling up in the discards. Try it at a real table — play Chinese Official Mahjong online against the AI, with every point counted for you.

FAQ

How many points is Lesser Honors and Knitted Tiles?

12 points in Chinese Official Mahjong, not combined with All Types, Concealed Hand, Fully Concealed Hand or Single Wait. With a complete knitted straight, add Knitted Straight for 24 points.

Does it need a pair?

No. It is 14 single tiles — no pair and no sets.

Can I chow or pung?

No. It must be concealed; any claim rules it out.

What's the difference from Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles?

With all seven honors it's Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles for 24 points; with only five or six honors it's this fan, 12 points.

Related fan

Greater Honors and Knitted Tiles 24 pt The knitted hand with all seven honors, 24 points: examples, the difference from the Lesser version, what it doesn't combine with, how often it shows up. Knitted Straight 12 pt 147, 258 and 369 across three suits for 12 points: as three sets in a normal hand, stacked with the knitted honors hand, the All Chows question, how often it shows up. All Types 6 pt Characters, dots, bamboo, a wind and a dragon for 6 points — short of 8. How to top it up, which fan absorb it, and whether forcing it pays.