In his fourth riichi mahjong column for MahjongNews, Japanese riichi expert Takunori Kajimoto elaborates on Red Fives in a waiting hand. Should you, or should you not, declare riichi?

I heard one theory from someone that I should make riichi immediately even if closed wait including red 5. Is it true?

Reply 4

Draw Dora

What this person said, for you is not theory. But many players make riichi in this situation. Look at the hand above. You get ready by drawing . The   is red. In this hand, even if you wait this hand to be changed to open wait, for example by drawing , you cannot help discarding red . So it's better for you to make riichi immediately.

In short, the closed wait riichi with red 5 is a fashion strategy recently.

Question

Then, should you make riichi when you have the following hand? The is red.

Draw

Correct answer

Not Riichi, but wait until the shape of this hand will change.

Dora 

You got ready without Yaku by picking   that broke Tanyao (All Simples). In this case, you should not make riichi. Because if you give the opportunity for this hand getting another tile, you will have a lot of chances to make Pinfu without discarding red . For example, drawing .

It's OK to regard this pattern as a theory.