Six bam! Four crack! Three dot! If those phrases make sense to you, then you’ve probably gotten on board with the mah jongg craze that is sweeping both Pittsburgh and the rest of the country. But in case you haven’t, Three Rivers Mahjong is here to help.
Join the Board Game Trend With Three Rivers Mahjong
Invented in China in the 1800s, the tile game featuring Chinese characters made its way to the United States a little more than a century ago — coinciding with women earning the right to vote. For many decades, it seemed to be a game associated primarily with housewives … but that was then. Today, a wide demographic enjoy mah jongg (though it’s still very popular among women).
Though she only discovered the game a year and a half ago, Pam Blizzard of Sewickley became obsessed with mah jongg, as she will readily admit. “I would describe it [as] if poker and rummy had a domino-tiled baby,” she laughed. The logic-based game involves trying to form patterned sequences with the tiles using an official card from the National Mah Jongg League; a winning game is a combination of chance and strategy.
Because she wanted to share her love of the game with others, Blizzard founded Three Rivers Mahjong this past winter. The club allows her to teach participants the basics then quickly have them participate in a game. She offers a beginner’s and an advanced beginner’s class, private private training and strategy sessions. Classes are in Sewickley, Wexford, Cranberry and Monroeville, though she is willing to travel throughout the city to teach upon request.
In the fall, she will be launching The Three Rivers Tile League, which she is limiting to 24 people and will incorporate six weeks of structured league play.
For Players of All Ages
Blizzard believes that the game is accessible to anyone, but beginners should realize that it’s a challenge. “You learn the basics, and then there’s layers and layers,” she says, adding that patience and a willingness to learn are also necessary. “At the end of the day, it is a game, and it should be fun.”
She attributes the resurgence of mahjong’s popularity in part to the forced isolation of the pandemic. “People are craving ways to get off the screens, to get back in touch with community and do what their grandmothers did,” adding that certain retro hobbies like knitting and crocheting are making a comeback for similar reasons.
For Blizzard, though, the best part is being witness to — and actually helping — to foster community. “A game on its own is just a game. What has blown me away is seeing how often it has brought people together, creating friendships and communities between people who never knew each other before.”
Story by Hilary Daninhirsch
Photo by Pam Blizzard