Mah Jongg Madness

Like cards, though, dozens of four-player tables are spread about the room, each containing competitors who look as determined as the fiercest of poker players. There are strategies being planned and a lot of give and take.

But the clickety clack continues and one realizes it's not cards. It looks a lot like dominoes, but the tiles don't don black dots, but colorful characters. It's a game called mah jongg.

And according to local enthusiasts, this game -- which is a mix of strategy and a little bit of luck -- has surpassed the popularity of poker, bridge and the like and is moving to take over the world.

"There's such a craze going on," says Roberta Murphy, who along with friend Natalie Lewis, organized a recent mah jongg tournament at Vanderbilt Country Club.

The two of them refer to themselves as "The Mah Jongg Mavens," planning several tournaments in the fall and spring and even one in the dead of summer -- all of which usually sell out.

On this day, 104 women have shown up at the country club to try their hand at being dubbed -- not maven -- but queen of mah jongg.

Just what is this game? It's an ancient Chinese pastime. According to www.ee.princeton.edu, mah jongg (also spelled mah-jong or mahjong) dates back more than 2,000 years, when it is said to have originated in the court of the King of Wu.

Within this court, there lived a beauty in seclusion. In order to keep from being bored, she invented a game of her own, carving domino-shaped pieces of ivory and bamboo. When she was finished, she invited three of her maids to play with her.

For centuries, mah jongg remained exclusive to the royal class, with the penalty of decapitation for commoners who dared to play. However, around 500 A.D., the penalty was lifted and anyone and everyone could play.

Lifting the ban enabled the game to spread to various countries around the world, including England and Australia. Its United States invasion did not occur until 1920, though. That's when Joseph P. Babcock, an American resident of Shanghai, coined and copyrighted the term "mah-jongg," along with a simplified set of rules. To promote the game in the United States, Babcock also gave English translations to the tiles and added index letters and numbers familiar to card players.

By 1923, mah jongg's popularity was growing by leaps and bounds. Mah jongg sets were being shipped into the United States by the thousands and stood sixth in value in the list of exports from Shanghai.

By the late 1920s, though, the popularity of the game began to wane. But with the depression of the 1930s, a revival of many table games, card games and board games came about. Among them was mah jongg.

It's been an up and down existence ever since. But the Mah Jongg Mavens claim mah jongg is now here to stay.

"It's a very addicting game," Murphy says. She's been playing since 1966.

Lewis has been tinkling the tiles almost as long, although she did take a little break at some point. "It's like riding a bicycle, though," she says. "You never forget."

And that's what happened with her. When Lewis moved to Southwest Florida, Murphy invited her over to play mah jongg.

Lewis was only going to watch, since it had been a while since she had played, but she just couldn't stay away from the game she's always loved.

"It mushroomed from there," Murphy says with a smile. And for the last three years the ladies have held tourneys in the Vanderbilt Country Club dining area.

Liz Sanders, activities director for Vanderbilt Country Club, says she's never seen anything like it.

"The demand got really big," she says. "We've become the mah jongg Mecca."

And the most interesting thing about it, Sanders says, is "Nobody's started and quit. They love it."

There are probably several reasons for that, Lewis says. "A lot of these ladies don't play golf. This is their socialization, if you will."

Also, it's an individual game. There are no partners and no one to blame but yourself.

The game is actually similar to a version of gin rummy, albeit more complicated. It's about grouping tiles (instead of cards) together by either suits or sequences.

	AT A GLANCE
	For more information on the tourney or learning to play, call the Vanderbilt Country Club at 348-2662.

One of the most difficult hands is a quint. And for that, the mavens say you need a lot of jokers, since there are only four tiles of each tile.

Just as they are explaining the rare qualities of the quint, a voice screams out "I got quints!" and applause erupt -- as well as a few oohs and ahhs -- as a woman makes her way to the front, where she writes her name on a white eraserboard.

"I'm shaking," Maureen Contini says as she puts her name on a space deemed 'Round 2.' "I got it with three tiles on the board," she adds and sticks her tongue out in a joking way as she heads back to her seat.

It's that kind of enthusiasm that blankets the room on this day. Although serious about playing, the ladies joke among themselves during and between rounds.

"It's one of the only games women can not talk while they play," Joyce LeCatta says with a laugh. She notes that's probably why her husband likes to play with her.

Speaking of why one plays, Sarah Pino has a philosophy on that.

"It keeps the mind going and you need it at this age," she says as she points to her head. That's why she plays every day at the Italian-American Club.

Susan Campanella, a Vanderbilt resident who was one of the first players to finish with the tournament on Monday, says it's more than keeping the mind going. She says, they all play "Because we're addicted," and she laughs.

But it's one of those addictions that can be fed quite easily. All one has to do is find someone to play mah jongg with.

And that can be arranged, as the next Vanderbilt Country Club Mah Jongg tournament is Jan. 12.

For more information on the tourney or learning to play, call the Vanderbilt Country Club at 348-2662.