Welcome
Hopefully you have an interest in playing Mahjong in the UK, because you have arrived at the website of the United Kingdom Mahjong Association (UKMA).
The UKMA is a new organisation formed primarily to enable, facilitate and promote the playing of mahjong tournaments in the United Kingdom conforming to Internationally recognised rules. It also seeks to promote and encourage the interests of all forms of the game of mahjong in the UK.
Whilst mahjong originated from China probably towards the end of the 19th Century, it gradually spread around the world and first became popular in the West in the 1920’s. Although essentially similar in character, many different variants of the game evolved in the Far East (and the USA!) and, whilst mahjong is still played by people all over the world, different rule sets still persist in the UK and elsewhere.
The playing of Mahjong is making a resurgence within Europe, with an active programme of tournaments played in many countries. The UKMA will be very much part of, and work closely with, the European Mahjong Association, building upon the mainland European initiatives. In particular, the EMA has made significant progress in producing “standardised” versions of the rules for Europe, incorporating the most common and popular rule sets. To date, it has promoted a standard version of the modern Chinese rules (Mahjong Competition Rules or MCR), and also of the Japanese “Riichi” rules (RCR), and is encouraging Europe-wide competitions in these two rule sets.
The UKMA’s initial emphasis is on the Riichi variant, with the longer-term intention of developing the playing of MCR tournaments. UKMA does not seek to marginalize other variants, and is keen to see all versions of the game played more widely in the UK.