Short Straight

What Is Short Straight

Short Straight is a 1-fan pattern in Chinese Mahjong that requires two adjacent chows in the same suit, collectively forming six consecutive ranks. It frequently appears as part of a chow-based strategy and can combine with other patterns such as Mixed One-Suit or Pure Double Chow. While it provides only a modest point increase, Short Straight can be a useful bonus if it arises naturally during the course of building your hand. Always maintain flexibility, monitor tile availability, and avoid fixating on small patterns at the expense of faster or more lucrative options.

The Tile Pattern of Short Straight

• Each chow is three consecutive numbers (1-2-3, 2-3-4, …, 7-8-9) in one of the three suits: Dots, Bams, or Craks.
• These two chows must be adjacent in rank, resulting in a combined run of six consecutive ranks with no gaps. Examples
• 1-2-3 + 4-5-6 (both in Bams)
• 3-4-5 + 6-7-8 (both in Craks)
• 2-3-4 + 5-6-7 (both in Dots)

Fan Value of Short Straight

Under Chinese Mahjong rules, Short Straight is worth 1 fan. If your hand contains more than one instance of such a pattern (for example, two separate pairs of adjacent chows in the same or different suits), you may score each one.

Strategies and Considerations of Short Straight

Recognizing Potential: If you see you have partial sequences that could align into two adjacent chows, hold onto them. For instance, if you have a 2-3-4 chow already and pick up 5-6 in the same suit, you might consider waiting for a 7 to complete that adjacent chow (5-6-7).

Suit Selection: If your hand naturally leans towards one suit with multiple connected tiles, forming a Short Straight can be straightforward. This pattern can sometimes occur naturally without too much effort, so staying flexible might help you incorporate it easily.

Combining with Other Chow-Based Patterns

• Mixed One-Suit or Full Flush: If you are focusing on one suit, consecutive tiles might line up for multiple “Short Straight” patterns or combine with other sequences.
• Pure Double Chow or Mixed Double Chow: If you form multiple chows, you might also simultaneously satisfy other 1-fan chow-based patterns.

Attention to Discards: If critical connecting tiles (e.g., 5-6) are heavily discarded or clearly taken by other players, completing two adjacent chows might be tough. Consider alternate patterns if you see your needed tiles are gone.

Open vs. Concealed: You can complete chows by claiming others’ discards (melded sets) or by drawing them yourself (concealed). Each approach has its own impact on your potential patterns and on revealing your suits to opponents.

Avoid Overcommitting: Because Short Straight yields only +1 fan, do not let it overshadow better scoring opportunities. If the path to forming two adjacent chows becomes too cumbersome, consider pivoting to simpler sequences or bigger patterns.

Cautions

• Misidentifying Overlapping Patterns: For example, if your chows overlap too much (e.g., 3-4-5 and 4-5-6), that doesn’t yield a full six ranks in a row—one chow’s last tile is the other chow’s first tile. This does not form a Short Straight because the combined run would only be four distinct ranks (3-4-5-6).
• Balancing Melds: If you expose many melds early, opponents might read your suit preference and tile needs, which can hinder your progress.