Play against a mahjong beginner to learn their offensive style.

I generally play mahjong online through Tenhou, but I also occasionally participate in real-life mahjong games with colleagues at work.
Recently, a beginner joined our company's mahjong group, and I'd like to write about what I've learned from their playing style.

Beginners who bark loudly

That beginner just barks incessantly.
With rules allowing players to call tiles and adding tiles later, and perhaps due to local rules that make it easier to score higher later (such as treating certain tiles the same as flower tiles), there is indeed a tendency for players to call tiles more often.
Even so, I'll keep calling tiles aggressively, regardless of whether they're 19 tiles or wind tiles.

Even though they're a complete beginner who doesn't even remember the Chanta hands or how to calculate the scores, when they keep calling tiles like that, everyone around them can't help but be wary.
It's unsettling when someone calls out 123 or 789 right from the start.
Sometimes, a misplaced sense of pride might get in the way, preventing you from taking on a role even if you might not have one, because you'd be embarrassed to admit defeat.

What we can learn from a beginner's offensive play

I realized that the attitude of not being afraid of making up excuses after the fact, and continuing to sing loudly even if my role becomes obvious, might be something I need right now.
Even with a bad starting hand, aggressively calling tiles forces the other players to become wary.
When I see someone successfully bluff and then push through to the top, I realize how powerful calling can be.

If you become unusually good at mahjong, you might unconsciously start playing in a more refined way, such as wanting to call on a scoring tile first or disliking one-sided wins.
I felt that there was something to be learned from the gritty, no-nonsense attitude of the beginner I encountered, who was simply charging headfirst towards winning.

Weakness

That being said, being a beginner, I'm not very good at things like deciding when to push or fold based on my points, or how to respond to a reach.
I know how to fold completely, so I will fold against a reach or a ready hand, but I have weaknesses such as folding too quickly against a call.

The beginners I encountered seemed to lack knowledge of how to defend, so they just stuck to folding.
Therefore, by making a move or getting a reach before my opponent, I was able to gain an advantage.
Changing your playing style depending on your opponent might be an effective strategy in a set game of mahjong.
However, I feel that this is not very effective in Tenhou, where you play against a large number of unknown opponents.

When you have a bad hand, you might be able to stop your opponent's moves by using the same tactics that beginners used against you and that you found annoying.
I'd been stuck in a rut with Tenhou recently, but this incident made me think I might try something new.