Grapevine, Texas/USA - After a fierce battle on the second day Masahiro Yaehata wins the "Dallas Fort Worth Mahjong Riichi Open" (no RERS), bumping Tina Koshimoto, who was in the lead after the first day, to the second position. Hirotaka Takeuchi claims third place, followed by David Bresnick in fourth.

The crew of 'Dallas/Fort Worth's Mahjong' ('DFWM') successfully hosted the second edition of their "Dallas Fort Worth Mahjong Riichi Open": twenty-eight players from California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington gathered in the Grapevine Convention Center, including two participants from Canada. The format and ruleset were common for 'NARMA' events: contestants went head to head during six qualifying rounds plus two playoff rounds with the top eight advancing to a two-tiered playoff following the WRC ruleset. 

Donnie Clark reports: "Congratulations, Masahiro Yaehata (CA) of LAPOM ['Los Angeles Pride of Mahjong', ed.], for this crashing late-tourney win. Masa finished day 1 in 12th place. A first place win in hanchan 5, the first game on Sunday, helped close the gap to the top 8. But in a stunning win 6th hanchan win, immediately before the semi-final cut, Masa raked in 94.3 points, shooting to the top of the standings and bumping returning champion Tina Koshimoto (TX) to 2nd! Tina K. and Hirotaka Takeuchi (IL) topped their semi-final table, with Masahiro and David Bresnick (NY) placing first and second at their table, beating out tournament hopeful Jarid Earnest (FL) for seats in the final four. After a tense final round, Masahiro came out on top, though points at the table were very close – Hirotaka was less than 6,000 points behind for second, David B. in third, and Tina K. only 1,100 points behind him for fourth. This was an exciting tournament that drew riichi players from all over the U.S. and Canada (thank you Grant [Mahoney, ed.] and Mason [Fraser, ed.] for making the cross-border journey!) At the end of the day, Masahiro kept his first place position, and Tina had enough points banked throughout the tournament to place second, pushing Hirotaka to third. There were other notable performances throughout the tournament. Jarid Earnest (FL) seemed a sure challenger for first at the end of day 1. James Bragg (CO) and DFW newcomer Thomas Graham (TX) put up some strong points and were in contention for the top 8, but were ultimately held back by a significant loss in an early game. Saturday night, following the day's hanchan, fourteen attendees and staff went to Lewisville for a fun night at 1 Hour to Escape where they hosted us in a large room dubbed The Ruins. We solved the room in just 33:36, approximately 5 minutes shy of the room record. It was a fun night, and it was really great getting a chance to talk to all of these different people outside of the tournament."

Final results of DFW Mahjong Riichi Open 2018 (Riichi, no RERS), Grapevine