This year's 2013 London Open held on May 18 and 19 illustrated in striking fashion what we all intrinsically know about the post-bot era in backgammon: it is impossible to win consistently without both a high understanding of modern backgammon theory which allows one to imitate the bots on most moves, while also possessing a great intuition about when to eschew the "bot- move" and play one's opponent psychologically, tempting him to make errors. Striking the right balance between pure math and pure psychology is what makes great backgammon an art and not a science -- although Walter Trice and Jake Jacobs did try to quantify this type of knowledge in their book Can a Fish Taste Twice as Good? Doubling in an Unequal Backgammon Match. To read the article click here.
The 2013 London Open and Why the Giants Keep on Winning