Capital Riichi Club
Ottawa-Gatineau's Premier Riichi Mahjong Club
The Capital Riichi Club in Ottawa, Canada, is thrilled to announce that we are hosting our first tournament! Titled the Capital Riichi Open, this event is Riichi Canada approved and is intended to be ARA certified (awaiting approval), ensuring this event can help contribute to your standings to represent Canada at WRC 2028. We hope to see you at our event!Registration will open on January 30th, 2026. An announcement will be made then with links to the form.If you know of others who are interested, please encourage them to join our Discord server, where information regarding the event and links to registration pages will be found.Questions and concerns can be directed to [email protected] or to our Discord server linked above.
Dates and Location
The Capital Riichi Open is a two-day tournament.
Day 1: Saturday, May 30th, 2026. 8:30 am – 9:00 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Day 2: Sunday, May 31st, 2026. 8:30 am – 9:00 pm EDT (GMT-4)
The tournament will be held at Carleton University:
Teraanga Commons, Rooms 270 and 272
Carleton University
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B7
Canada
Transit and Parking
Carleton University is located directly on Line 2 of the LRT system for OCTranspo (Carleton Station) and runs north to south. This line links directly with Line 1 of the LRT at Bayview Station, which runs east to west into downtown Ottawa. Trains on Line 1 arrive approximately every 8 minutes, and Trains on Line 2 arrive approximately every 12 minutes.When you reach Carleton Station and exit, turn right and walk north along Campus Avenue until you reach Teraanga Commons on your left side. We will aim to have signage inside to direct you upon reaching the building.For those driving, there are various parking lots around Carleton’s campus, and as the tournament is being held outside of the academic year, ample parking is anticipated. Please review the Campus Map for parking lot options and Visitor Parking Rates at the associated links.
Fees and Registration
The early bird tournament fee is $60 CAD if you register and pay by March 31st, 2026 11:59 pm EDT (GMT-4). After that date, the fee will be raised to $70 CAD.Registration will open on January 30th, 2026. A form will be provided at that time. Registration formally closes on April 24th, 2026 at 11:59 pm EDT. This tournament will be capped to a maximum of 64 players. Additional registrants beyond the cap will be added to a waitlist and will only pay registration fees should a spot open for their attendance.Tournament fees are due by April 24th, 2026 at 11:59 pm EDT, and shall be paid via Interac e-Transfer to [email protected] (preferred) or via PayPal to the Capital Riichi Club PayPal account at [email protected]. If your payment is not received by that date, you forfeit your spot to the next person on the waiting list. Cash payments are not accepted – our apologies for the inconvenience.The registration form has been translated into French with the help of Grant M. from the Montreal Riichi Club.Le formulaire d’inscription a été traduit en français avec l’assistance de Grant M. du Club riichi de Montréal.
Important note regarding refunds:
Refunds will only be issued in case of emergencies. If you have an emergency and need to withdraw from the tournament, please contact [email protected].
Food and Accommodations
A light lunch will be provided for both days of the event through Carleton University’s Catering Services (variety of sandwiches, etc.). Dinner will not be provided.The Capital Riichi Club does not have an accommodation partner for this event. We recommend searching for hotels or AirBnBs that are close to either of OCTranspo’s Line 1 or Line 2 for ease of transportation should you need it.
Rules and Format
The tournament will follow the WRC 2025 Ruleset with the following optional rules active:Modification 2.1: Red Fives
The Capital Riichi Open will make use of three red fives as additional dora in tournament matches.Modification 4.1: Uma
To account for the use of red fives as additional dora, the Capital Riichi Open will make use of modified uma values of +30 pts / +10 pts / -10 pts / -30 pts for 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th place results respectively.
The tournament will also follow the latest Lower Penalties table (found in the Optional Rules document), along with the following additions/exceptions/clarifications:Wrongly revealing tiles:
• 1-3 tiles: No penalty (upgraded to warning, then -5.0 pts penalty for repeated offences)
• 4-6 tiles: Dead hand
• 7+ tiles: ChomboIncorrect all-last sheet:
-8.0 pts penalty for the offending player, if it changed the result of the gameIncorrect report sheet:
-2.0 pts penalty per playerIf an exception/addition/clarification is not listed above, the referees will use the WRC 2025 rules as the basis of their judgment on a given matter.Players must not abuse the rules or exploit loopholes in the rules. Tournament etiquette will be observed during the tournament as well. If this is your first event, we strongly encourage you to review the Toronto Riichi Club’s Tournament Etiquette webpage, as well as Riichi Nomi’s YouTube video on the subject.
First day
• 4 hanchan
• 80-minute hanchan time limit. Unfinished hands being played at the time limit will be played to completion, then one more hand will be played if the game is not yet finished. If the hand has just finished when time is completed, then two more hands will be played.Second day
The second day will be split into two halves. After the first half, a cut to the top 8 will occur and scores will be adjusted.First half:
• 2 hanchan
• 80-minute hanchan time limit. Unfinished hands being played at the time limit will be played to completion, then one more hand will be played if the game is not yet finished. If the hand has just finished when time is completed, then two more hands will be played.
• Top 8: Scores will be quartered after Hanchan 6.
• All other players: scores will be left as-is.Second half:
• 2 hanchan
• 80-minute hanchan time limit. Unfinished hands being played at the time limit will be played to completion, then one more hand will be played if the game is not yet finished. If the hand has just finished when time is completed, then two more hands will be played.
• Top 8 will play for positions 1-8. The seating of the players will be based on their position after Hanchan 6, per the arrangement below: Hanchan 7: [1,2,7,8] [3,4,5,6]
Hanchan 8: [1,3,6,8] [2,4,5,7]• All other players will play for positions 9+.
Schedule
All times are in EDT.First day
| Start time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | Registration and Opening |
| 9:30 a.m. | Hanchan 1 |
| 11:30 a.m. | Hanchan 2 |
| 12:50 p.m. | Lunch |
| 3:00 p.m. | Hanchan 3 |
| 5:00 p.m. | Hanchan 4 |
| 6:20 p.m. | Free Play |
Second day
| Start time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | Reorganization |
| 9:30 a.m. | Hanchan 5 |
| 11:30 a.m. | Hanchan 6 |
| 12:50 p.m. | Lunch |
| 3:00 p.m. | Hanchan 7 |
| 5:00 p.m. | Hanchan 8 |
| 6:45 p.m. | Awards Ceremony |
| 7:00 p.m. | Free Play |
Prizes
Trophies and medals will be awarded to the top 8 players. No cash prizes will be awarded at this event.
About Us
Our club was informally established in July 2023 as a way to coordinate riichi mahjong meetups in Canada’s National Capital Region (NCR). On April 29, 2024, we were named the Capital Riichi Club (CRIC).CRIC’s logo — based on the 2-pin tile — was created in March 2025 and designed to represent the NCR’s two main areas: Ottawa and Gatineau. The flowers in each circle depict the official provincial flowers for Québec and Ontario (top and bottom, respectively) and the colours used directly match the colours of both cities’ logos.Official club meetups are held once a month at Level One Game Pub in the downtown area (14 rue Waller Street, Ottawa, ON) and club members often host pick-up events on weekends in various locations across the NCR.Since our founding in 2023, we have been actively participating in local community events — especially those that celebrate the creative arts and culture. We hosted a riichi mahjong booth at Anime Ottawa 2025 and were featured on CBC Ottawa’s All in a Day Book Club hosted by Alan Neal (featuring Wayne Ng, author of Johnny Delivers, a novel that heavily incorporates mahjong elements into its storytelling).Our club has since grown to over 150 members with regular member engagement and we hope to continue growing the NCR’s riichi mahjong community in the years to come. Whether you are a new player, or a seasoned veteran, all skill levels are welcome at the Capital Riichi Club!
Meet Your Team
Paul Chang-Richardson
Co-Founder & President
Paul started playing riichi mahjong in 2022 with friends amongst the Ottawa fighting game community and was quickly hooked by the game. He eventually crossed paths with CRIC's other founding member Amy and decided to create a club to represent the NCR's riichi mahjong community.Paul is the primary event organizer for CRIC activities and is the liaison for both external and internal communications.Favourite tile: 7-pin
Favourite yakus: pinfu, sanankou (three concealed triplets)Amy Situ
Co-Founder & Digital Media and Community Manager
Amy also started playing riichi mahjong in 2022 through the online client Mahjong Soul and later discovered the joys of in-person play at an anime convention in 2023. She sought out players from the NCR who also shared the same passion for riichi mahjong and eventually co-founded CRIC with Paul.Amy primarily handles the online and technical aspects of the club such as media design, server moderation, and social media.Favourite tile: 1-sou
Favourite yakus: riichi, ippatsu, tsumo
Contact
Club activities, announcements, and event planning are hosted primarily on our Discord server.Follow us on Instagram @capital.riichi.club to see more mahjong related content such as previews and behind the scenes!For business inquiries, please contact us via e-mail.