Vadim Horwat

Region
France

Joined
2025

Achievements
- Playing in WRC2017 and recieving compliments on my level of play at the tournaments by some japanese pros.
- Sharing my passion of the game : teaching how to play in various festivals. "Converting" friends and colleagues and playing often with them.
- Passing the WRPM tests.

Background
When I lived in Paris, I met every week with friends in an unofficial Go club. One day (a bit before 2010 I think), one of them brought a set of mahjong and taught us how to play his family rules (a variant of Chinese mahjong). I was used to games without randomness. But this new experience was both disturbing and refreshing. Soon after, I joined the MMSP club in Paris, were I played MCR for about one year. I actually grew tired of the game at this point, as the MCR rules were just not built for me. Fortunately, that's the moment I discovered Japanese mahjong, and that's when true passion started. I started to play a lot online, joined TNT (Riichi club in Paris) and started playing in EMA tournaments. In 2012, I moved to Tours, but still continued to go to TNT and to tournaments. By 2013, I was very confident of my level and I attended the European Championship with high expectations. But this tournament was actually the lowest of my mahjong carrier. I went from overconfidence to disapointment, to eventually bounce back with more experience.
Since then, my journey continue :
- From tournaments where I've made a lot of friends and where I enjoy even more to play than before
- To teaching the game to strangers at festivals, or playing with friends and colleagues I tought too.
In the end, playing mahjong through the years has had a big impact on my personality. It made me work on my patience and humility. It makes me want to get better, not only at the game, but at living too. This game really changed my life. And I hope it will continue to do so.