For all you English-Language Reach Mahjong players out there, a unique opportunity is available for you to meet and play with the best of the best! There’s a tournament coming up at the end of September featuring both the President of the Japanese Professional Mahjong League (JPML), and the #1 player from the 2014 Paris World Reach Championship (WRC), and time is running out to apply! We’ll be there to get interviews, video, and meet up with players from across the world, and if you ever wanted to be a part of the pro Mahjong scene, this is your chance as well!

To make sure we don’t miss out on relaying any important information, we’ll now be turning this announcement over to David Bresnick, President of the US Pro Mahjong League. David, take it away!

the practicals – The NYC International Riichi Open will be hosted at the Skyline Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen on September 26th and 27th of this year. Registration closes September 15th, so if you’re interested you can still hurry over to http://nariichi.org and reserve your seat! We hope to see you there!

It’s always been our dream to have a major event here in NYC and the stars have finally aligned to make it possible. In the 5+ years the USPML has been in operation we’ve met a lot of people, moved all around the city, played a lot of mahjong, and sent representatives to tournaments around the world. Now it’s our turn to extend an invitation to all the friends we’ve made at home and abroad. We have a great venue in the heart of Manhattan and are really excited to host a weekend of mahjong!

Here’s a list of the major highlights of the event:

:: We are extremely proud to be hosting two very prestigious JPML members at this event – JPML president Shigekazu Moriyama and WRC Champion Hiroshi Yamai.

:: Our JPML friends will be hosting a mahjong strategy seminar on one of those evenings, similar to the session held in Paris. It’s a great opportunity to get tips and tricks from two of the most talented and experienced players in the world.

:: The venue will be open both nights until 11PM – this means that participants can hang out and play as much as they’d like after the ranked matches have been completed! Plenty of extra time for fun!

:: Our Amos Ultima automatic table will be present and in play at the event – we’re going to be using it for the top-ranked table in each round, and it’ll be available for everyone to play on after hours.

:: We’re still finalizing the details, but we plan to have a live stream from the event as well as ranking and result updates. People who can’t make it should still stay tuned, you’ll be able to follow the action!

We sincerely hope that as many people as possible can make it out to NYC and for those who cannot, don’t despair – there will be more events in the future!

– David Bresnick, President, USPML