Robbing a kan 搶槓 · chankan
Win by taking the tile an opponent adds to an existing pon to upgrade it into a kan.
| Value | 1 han, open or closed |
|---|---|
| How often | very rare |
The setup is specific: an opponent has an open pon, they draw the fourth copy of that tile, and they add it to the pon to upgrade it into a kan カン. If that exact tile is your winning tile, you can claim it as a ron the instant it's added. Only this added kan (shouminkan 小明槓) can be robbed; a kan built from a player's own hand can't be, except that many rules let a closed kan be robbed by a hand waiting on kokushi musou (see thirteen orphans). And because it's a ron, furiten フリテン applies as usual (see furiten).
You can't build toward chankan — staying tenpai テンパイ with a live wait is the whole preparation. The lesson worth internalizing runs the other way. When you're the one upgrading a pon, that added tile is briefly claimable by every tenpai opponent: outside the kokushi exception above, the only moment in the game a tile can be won off you without being discarded. Upgrading late in the hand for a little extra fu and a fresh dora indicator, while a riichi sits on the table, is the textbook way to give one away. If you'd hesitate to discard the tile, hesitate to kan it.
Key points
- Only works against an added kan (shouminkan), not a closed or open kan from hand — with one classic exception: a closed kan can be robbed only for kokushi musou in many rules
- One of the rarest ways to win in the game
Whether a closed kan can be robbed for kokushi musou varies by ruleset; WRC and EMA rule text governs in tournaments.
Related yaku
- After-kan win 嶺上開花 — Win on the replacement tile you draw after declaring a kan — “blossom on the ridge.”
- Thirteen orphans 国士無双 — One of each of the thirteen terminal and honor tiles, plus a duplicate of any one of them.
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