Mahjong Legends has it that Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, invented the game around 500 BC. Mahjong is a game of strategy, intelligence, skill, calculation and luck. The object of the game is to build complete suits (usually of threes) from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal wins the game. The winning tile completes the set of either 14 or 17 tiles. The 144 tiles have numbers and English characters on them to make them easier to recognize. This impressive Dal Rossi Italy Mahjong set comes in a deluxe mahogany case measuring 30cm, thus making it the perfect compact mahjong a Fantastic gift!