How good is Chip Reese at backgammon?

[cognito20]

Not sure if this is the correct forum for this but I figured I'd try anyway since this is where I see most of the backgammon posts. In a number of books, magazines, and publications, I've seen Chip Reese mentioned (usually off-handedly) as being a world-class, or the very least, extremely good, backgammon player. Have any of the backgammon people here played against him or seen him play, and is this assessment accurate? Does he play mostly money games as he does in poker, or has he been known to play tournaments as well, and what were some of his results if he has? Basically I'm just curious...I admire the man greatly, to say the least, as a poker player and was wondering if anyone here had any further details on his backgammon prowess. I know he's considered to be a top-class gin player as well, but it's relatively well-known that he studied the game with Stu Ungar in return for giving Stuey the lowdown on stud.

--Scott

[Robertie]

About 12 years ago I played in the Backgammon Pro-Am in the Bahamas. The Pro-Am was a doubles tournament with a large entry fee in which each doubles team was a combination of a pro with an amateur. The two players could consult on all their plays.

My partner and I got to the semi-finals where we faced a team of Chip Reese and another player who'd been on the circuit a few years. Chip was supposed to be the amateur on the team. After a few games, I realized that whenever the team discussed a difficult play, Chip's advice was usually better. However, since he was supposed to be the amateur and his partner had more tournament experience, Chip's play would get overruled. After a few hours, my partner and I won the match. Afterwards, I told Chip what I thought, and he just smiled ruefully.

My estimate at the time was that he would have been an underdog only to the best players on the circuit. If he spent his time playing against non-pros in Vegas, he would have done very well. Whether he's kept up with the game over the last 12 years, I don't know.