■ INTRODUCTION

Mahjong is so called the ultimate game in the world needless to mention here. It is called the game of a thousand wonders or a hundred intelligence.

MahKing is a highly intelligent mahjong game software. It has been developed and is being commercialized by TankSoft Inc.

Cyber players in MahKing can play the real world Mahjong perfectly.
As you may know, the world-best cyber Go player can only perform at a medicore level of skill.  And the newest mainframe computer can play a barely even game with the human Chess champion.  But a cyber player of 9-Daan(the highest level) in the MahKing can beat any Mahjong player in the world.

The MahKing was dubbed an Excellent Information Technology by Korean Government(Information and Telecommunication Ministry) on September 22, 1999.

MahKing was initially developed as a Java application and converted to a C++ version for the various advantages.

And it has been converted so as to be player on the Internet. The Internet online game service commenced on February 1, 2001.

The MahKing initially applied the WMF(World Mahjong Federation) rule for "World Mahjong". Thereafter it has been developed to "Japan Mahjong" applying the Japanese mahjong rule, and to "China Mahjong" applying the Official Chinese mahjong rule.

At the beginning of 2008, all three versions have been modified as playable in the internet web with Flash interface.

■ FEATURES OF MAHKING

Uncomparably Powerful.
   - Cyber players of wide range of skill levels(1-9 Daan) make it possible to play in a various modes.

Very Realistic and Scientific Game Control System
   - Effective time and penalty control system patented over five nations.

Various Game Modes
   - MahjongNet(1HP+3CP, 2HP+2CP, 3HP+1CP, 4HP)
   - DaanExam(1-9 Daan)
   - Machinko(1HP+3CP)

   * HP: Human Player  CP: Cyber Player
   * [2HP+2CP] can be used for a tournament preventing collusions.

Various Mahjong Rules
   - WMFR (World Mahjong Federation Rule): World Mahjong
   - JPMR (Japanese Mahjong Rule): Japan Mahjong
   - OCMR (Official Chinese Mahjong Rule): China Mahjong

Easy to Learn & Play

Naturally, the features of MahKing apply to all the versions.

Human being can hardly achieve a 9-Daan skill. Many majong experts (professionals) have challenged for 9-Daan, but few succeeded.  Since the tiles are mixed randomly, a player who has exceptionaly good initial hands by fortune may win that round.  Good players can win a few rounds, but they hardly can win a full game.

MahKing imposes some constraints on the human player. If a human player does a wrong action or exceeds the time limit for a action, he gets a penalty. If the total penalty exceeds the allowable limit, he is disqualified for winning that round. This makes the game more sensible and rythmic.

Newcomers and beginners as well as experts of various skill levels can exploit MahKing with a stunning ease.  A newcomer may start "DaanExam" mode and try to become a 1-Daan player : after a while he will become an expert.  An expert may test his skill level through testing various grades and can enhance his proficiency to a great extent.  A professional will struggle to win a full game by assigning cyber players 9-Daan.

■ MERITS OF COMPUTER MAHJONG GAMES

There exist several outstanding features in computer mahjong games.

No needs for table & chairs, tiles and ash trays.

No needs of partners.
   - Cyber partners of various level of skills are standing by.

Neither gimmicks nor cheatings is allowed.

Save time and labor for mixing, distributing, lining up tiles and counting faans.
  - A player can concentrate on the essence of the game.

Can learn easily by playing himself.

■ OTHER MAHJONG GAMES

There exist about thirty computer mahjong games mostly developed in Japan.
We selected and carefully reviewed those games and found that :

they were all similar in playing except that they used different characters and names.

they all had three critical drawbacks :
  - they could play only the easiest version of mahjong(1 Faan game).
  - neverthless the decision by cyber players were far from optimality(much lower level of      skill).
  - they had poor control systems: computer suggested some important decisions for the real player(nonsense!) and operated unrhythmically.

in short, they had not overcome the complexities inherent in mahjong games; instead    digressed to other amusement(sex, characters).

It was our luck that we had not contacted any existing mahjong game before we finish the major parts of MahKing.  Otherwise, we might have compromised.

As you may know, the essence of playing mahjong is making a good and quick decision consistently. In the gaming world, the decision quality is referred to as "Artificial Intelligence".
Reviewers say the A.l. of MahKing is much higher(by at least 10 grades) than that of any other existing game.

Most of our endeavors has been devoted to developing the highest possible A.I. Experience of 25 years as a mahjong mania and having an insight into algorithm was the clue and the essence of developing MahKing. Dr. Tai-Up Kim, the founder of the TankSoft, Inc. and the key developer of the MahKing, studied the majority of all the existing algorithms and developed a couple of new algorithms for his thesis at MIT.

■ MAHJONG IN THE WORLD

It is known that about three hundred million people in China and thirty million people in Japan
enjoy mahjong. In June 1998, the Bureau of Sports in Chinese Government declared an unified official mahjong rule after a deep and wide deliberation on existing local rules.  Also they assigned Mahjong to the 255th official Sports.

In Hongkong, more than half of Chinese adults, including women, play mahjong. It is said that about ten million people play mahjong in Southeast Asia.  (Taiwan, Hongkong, Malaysia, Singapore). Actually, playing mahjong became a routine social activity for the majority of Chinese throughout the world.

In the United States and U.K, mahjong was very popular in the early twenties.
The Encyclopedia Britannica recorded that in 1923 mahjong sets outsold the radio, both being in the same price range.  National Mah Jongg League has been active since it was found in 1937 in New York City.

It is a very conservative prediction that 345 million people around the world now enjoy mahjong.

Mahjong can be an exciting challenge to the people who have not even heard of it before.
MahKing will help newcomers by introducing a very easy and amicable path to learn mahjong.

There are some ten millions of lovers for new game around the world. As far as a game has depth and fun, they will play it.  The fun of mahjong has been proven for more than 1,000 years and the depth of MahKing can be easily recognized once it is played on.

Playing MahKing cannot be a gambling. That will break the age barrier : youngsters as well as elders will play MahKing.  It will also be an excellent brain exerciser while the mental health is being emphasized more than ever.

We believe that, in a conservative prediction, more than 100 million people will play MahKing on various platforms during the next 10 years in the world.  Forecasting the market size for MahKing may be very difficult, but nobody can deny a potential huge market.