Two Melded Kongs

What Is Two Melded Kongs

Two Melded Kongs in Chinese Mahjong is a 4-fan pattern requiring you to form two separate exposed kongs within your winning hand. While melding kongs provides a significant scoring boost and can grant extra draws, it also reveals more of your tiles and can reduce overall flexibility. Keep careful track of tile flow, assess whether you can reliably secure the necessary fourth tiles for each kong, and weigh the benefits of the 4-fan reward against the risk of slower or more predictable play. When managed well, Two Melded Kongs can be a powerful and exciting route to a high-scoring victory.

The Tile Pattern of Two Melded Kongs

Two Distinct Kongs: Each kong consists of four identical tiles. You need two such sets, each visibly exposed (melded) on the table.

Formed or Upgraded Externally

• At least one tile in each kong must come from an opponent’s discard or the kong must be upgraded from an already exposed pung.
• This distinguishes a melded kong from a concealed kong, which is formed entirely by self-draw and kept face-down.

Fan Value of Two Melded Kongs

Under standard Chinese Mahjong rules, Two Melded Kongs is worth 4 fan. This is significantly more than a single Melded Kong (1 fan) and reflects the relative difficulty of assembling multiple exposed kongs within one hand.

Strategies and Considerations of Two Melded Kongs

Significant Scoring Boost: At 4 fan, Two Melded Kongs can greatly increase your final score. If combined with other patterns (e.g., All Pungs, honor-based pungs), you might reach an even higher total.

Powerful Pung-Oriented Hands: If you are already collecting multiple pungs (e.g., All Pungs strategy), upgrading them to kongs can turn a normal pung-based hand into a bigger-scoring one.

Revealing Your Tiles: Every time you form or upgrade a melded kong, you fully expose those four identical tiles. This reveals valuable information to opponents, who now know exactly which tiles you have.

Tile Availability: As you make multiple kongs, you remove many copies of certain tiles from circulation. While beneficial to you, it can also affect your potential for flexible waits. Make sure your final hand can still be completed without those tiles for sequences or pairs if needed.

Risk of Overcommitting: Seeking two melded kongs might slow you down or reduce flexibility. If the crucial fourth tile for each kong never arrives, you might get stuck with partial sets. Evaluate whether forming single kongs or simpler melds might lead to a faster or safer win.

Keep Track of Discards: If you see multiple copies of a tile you want for a kong already discarded, or used by opponents, you might pivot away from a second kong.

Timing the Upgrade: Upgrading a pung to a kong can be done immediately after you draw the matching fourth tile. If you fear helping opponents with extra draws or revealing information too soon, some players wait until closer to finishing the hand (though official rules often require you to declare immediately upon drawing).