Masayuki Mochizuki

Backgammon has existed for thousands of years, but the Dublin Cube has only been around for around 100 years.

It must have been so boring before then.

Well, they still played backgammon without the cube in many parts of the world.

But I agree, the doubling cube is the most fun part about backgammon.

With checker play moves, you can compare your move to other moves, which inherently make it easier because you've got something to compare it to.

Whereas with a doubling cube, you've got nothing to compare it to.

That's the thing about the doubling cube.

It occupies its own special dimension in the game.

The two dice that you roll on every turn that dictate where you can move your checkers, they are inherently random.

So you have to plan for and adapt to that randomness.

The doubling cube is the only part of the game that can be unilaterally controlled.

And who invented the cube?

As Frank Frigo told us, that fact is still in dispute within the backgammon community.

He mentioned a 1930 New Yorker article that identified one possible inventor.

Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov was a cousin of Tsar Nicholas II and one of the few Romanov dukes to survive the Russian Revolution.

He is thought to have been involved in the plot to murder Grigory Rasputin.

So, yes, the history of Backgammon is littered with interesting characters.

As for the question of luck versus skill, here's Frank Frigo.

Frank, you are a two-time world backgammon champion, correct?

Yes.