On July 15,1979 in Monte Carlo world history was made as a computer program for the first time beat a recognized world champion at his own game. BKG 9.8, authored by Hans Berliner of the Computer Science Department, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 15213, beat Luigi Villa, the newly crowned Backgammon World Champion in a seven point match 7-1. It should be noted that during the match both opponents palyed well; however, Villa played clearly better. However, as an examination of the game records below will confirm, on this occasion BKG 9.8 was the beneficiary of the element of luck in the game of backgammon, and this accounts for the lop-sided score.
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