Counting Effective Tiles

Ukeire means tiles that lower shanten after your discard. Quantifying it makes tile efficiency comparisons objective—learn this right after shanten.

What Is Ukeire

• Types — how many tile IDs help
• Counts — tiles left in the wall (4 minus held)

More types and tiles at the same shanten usually mean faster wins. Effective tiles should eventually reach tenpai (shanten 0)—pair that with tenpai training for wait recognition.

How to Count

1. Apply each candidate discard
2. Try adding each of 34 tile types; note those that reduce shanten
3. Sum remaining copies (typically 4 - in hand)

Same definition as calculateEffectiveTiles in this project.

Wide one-shanten

Narrower comparison

Comparing Discards

When shanten stays equal, prefer maximum ukeire unless scoring or safety overrides. At one-shanten see One-Shanten Discard. After ukeire drills, tenpai training checks whether you can name waits at a glance.

Basics: Shanten · Overview: Tile Efficiency.