Defense · Feature 05

American Mah Jongg Defense Without Mind Reading

Use timing, visible tiles, exposures, and uncertainty to make more deliberate late-round discards.

Working outcomeA late-round risk checklist with uncertainty intact.

Defense is conditional

A tile is not universally safe. Risk depends on visible copies, exposure patterns, discards, wall length, and the legal structures still plausible.

Make the comparison explicit

Before discarding late, compare two candidates rather than asking whether one is simply safe.

  • How many copies are accounted for?
  • Which visible structures could use it?
  • What does keeping it cost your own hand?

Accept residual risk

Incomplete information cannot become certainty through confidence. Choose the defensible risk and avoid blaming yourself solely because the tile was called.

Keep the boundary visible

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