What Is the Charleston in Mahjong?

The basic Charleston sequence

The first Charleston uses three passes. Each player passes three tiles to the right, then three tiles across, then three tiles to the left. You receive three tiles on each pass, so your hand size stays the same.

This site teaches that first sequence in the trainer. Select exactly three tiles, pass them, receive replacements and repeat until the Charleston is complete.

• First pass: right.
• Second pass: across.
• Third pass: left.

Why the Charleston matters

American Mahjong is a card-hand game. The Charleston gives you a chance to move away from tiles that do not fit your chosen hand and collect tiles that might fit a better direction.

Beginners often try to keep too many possibilities open. A better approach is to compare your tiles with the practice card, keep the strongest matching groups and pass isolated tiles that do not support any likely hand.

Second Charleston, blind pass and courtesy pass

At many real tables, players may agree to a second Charleston in reverse order: left, across, right. Some tables also allow a blind pass, where a tile received in a pass can be passed onward without looking at it. After the Charleston, players may also make a courtesy pass across the table.

These details vary by table and teaching style. For an online beginner trainer, the first priority is learning the core right-across-left rhythm before adding optional table conventions.

Beginner Charleston strategy

Start by finding pairs, repeated numbers, strong suit clusters and jokers. Then look at the target card and ask which hand your tiles support best.

Pass tiles that are isolated, off-plan or unlikely to become part of your chosen hand. Flowers and jokers are often valuable, but their value depends on the hand you are chasing.