Matthew McKinney

Region
New Hampshire, United States

Joined
2025

Achievements
International Online Riichi Mahjong Championship (IORMC) 2024, 2025 USA participant
American Riichi Mahjong League (ARML) 2023 Yearly Champion, Fall 2023 Champion, Summer 2024 Champion
8th place Riichi Nomi Open 2025
8th place Great Lakes Riichi Open 2025
10th place Philly Riichi Open 2024
6 dan Tenhou

Background
In 2021, my mom bought me a mahjong set as a birthday gift, based solely on the fact that I was studying Japanese in my free time. I had only ever heard of mahjong through the anime Akagi, but decided to give an honest effort towards learning the game. I scoured the web for resources, found Riichi Book 1, and was instantly hooked. Mahjong hits all the aspects of a game that appeal to me: imperfect information, a degree of luck, and endless depth. I started climbing the ranked ladders of online clients, while intensely studying every day. I would read strategy books and articles in Japanese, watch youtube videos, and add absolutely everything I learned to an Anki deck, my favorite spaced repetition system. The deck is now at 4131 flashcards, and I still use it daily! With consistent effort, I had reached 6 dan on Tenhou a few times and found some success in the American Riichi Mahjong League. So in 2024, I finally felt confident enough in my skills to attend my first live tournament, aiming to qualify for the World Riichi Championship (representing the United States). While I barely fell short of that goal, it was a valuable journey that reinforced my drive to continue studying and developing my skills. Learning mahjong is a daily adventure, and in America, it is has been incredibly exciting to see the rapid growth of the competitive scene. I want to be at the forefront of developing mahjong in my country, so I'm incredibly excited to call myself a WR pro. I'm very happy to have met so many wonderful people within the mahjong world, and can't wait to see what the future holds