Doran: “Monte Carlo gave me the confidence that I belong at this level, but at the same time it showed me how much room I still have to improve.”
1. How did you first discover backgammon, and when did you realize it could become a serious part of your life?
I was around 12 years old when I learned the game from my aunts and cousins. Every year in June, when we got together for the holidays, we played backgammon.
My brother and I became completely hooked on the game. We played almost every day and made bets on all sorts of things, like who would clean the other person’s room or who would make breakfast. Silly bets like that!
I fell in love with the game right from the beginning, and I still feel the same way today.
Even so, for most of my life I never really thought about it seriously. I loved playing, but backgammon was simply part of my everyday life.
The truth is that backgammon only became a serious part of my life after the 2025 World Championship in Monte Carlo.
I felt like I had found a missing piece of the puzzle of my life.
2. When you look back at your journey in backgammon, what was the biggest turning point in your life?
Definitely the 2025 World Backgammon Championship in Monte Carlo.
It was my first serious international tournament, and I genuinely had no idea what to expect.
I went there simply to play, enjoy myself, and experience the World Championship.
Then, somehow, I just kept winning!
It felt like I was living in a dream. To be honest, it still feels a little like that even now.
Reaching the final naturally changed a lot for me. I went from being a completely unknown player to suddenly becoming someone everyone wanted to know about: who is this guy from South Africa that nobody had heard of until yesterday?
But perhaps more importantly, I felt like I had found a family I had been missing for a long time, a place where I belonged.
A lot of what has happened to me since that week probably has its roots in those days.
3. When you think about Monte Carlo and the World Championship, what is the first memory that comes to mind?
I had just arrived in Monte Carlo, dropped off my luggage, and went straight to the playing room!
I was like an excited kid walking into a huge candy store!
My first match in Monte Carlo, in the qualifying stage, was against Jörgen Granstedt.
I needed a double to win the match, and somehow, unbelievably, I rolled exactly that double!
I was absolutely over the moon.
I think that moment perfectly captures how I felt when I arrived in Monte Carlo. I was incredibly excited just to be there, and I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to me over the course of that week.
4. How did you feel before the World Championship final, and what do you remember most about the final itself?
I had a lot of emotions before the final. I cried a lot and felt an enormous sense of pride.
But strangely, once I sat down at the board, I was relatively calm.
I had already come through so many tough matches that week, and at first the final almost felt like just another match against another opponent.
Then I had an amazing start.
I remember putting Timo under pressure and thinking to myself, “This is it! I’m going to become world champion!”
But then Timo started coming back into the match.
That is probably what I remember most about the match: my world gradually starting to shrink.
The pressure of the match began to show. My lack of experience began to show. It was the first time I had ever traveled abroad to play, and suddenly I was in the biggest match of my life, trying to keep everything under control.
Timo played incredibly well during that part of the match.
There was a real battle going on inside me. On one hand, I was trying to stay calm, and on the other, I could feel the match slowly slipping away from me.
That final taught me a lot.
5. After becoming world runner-up, what was the first feeling or thought that came to you?
I was honestly devastated! I’m not going to lie.
I wanted to become champion so badly, and when you get that close to your goal, losing hurts a lot.
But very quickly, that disappointment gave way to gratitude for what I had actually achieved.
It was my first appearance at the World Championship and my first serious international tournament.
A week earlier, almost nobody knew who I was, and suddenly I had reached the final.
It took me some time to really process what had happened.
Even now, I sometimes think back to that week and say to myself, “Damn, what actually happened?!”
6. Now that you have had more time to reflect, what did Monte Carlo teach you about yourself as a player?
It showed me that I can compete at a much higher level than I had ever imagined.
But at the same time, I realized that I still have so much to learn.
For most of my life, I had played largely on instinct, through pattern recognition and my gut feeling.
Sometimes I would find a very strong move, but when someone asked me why I had made it, I would give a completely ridiculous explanation!
In fact, that is exactly where Gutterbot came from.
Since Monte Carlo, I have been trying to connect my instincts with a more technical and scientific understanding of the game.
I also realized how well I play when I feel free.
At that time, I wasn’t judging every single decision I made, and I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone. I was just playing.
And I realized how much I love winning!
Monte Carlo gave me the confidence that I belong at this level, but at the same time it showed me how much room I still have to improve.
7. You have experienced both incredible victories and difficult defeats. What has losing taught you that winning never could?
That the pain of losing is always much greater than the pleasure of winning!
Backgammon is brutal because sometimes you can play incredibly well and still lose. On the other hand, you can play badly and still win.
Learning to separate the result from the quality of the decision is probably one of the hardest parts of the game.
Nick, our boss, is always telling me, “Don’t be so results-oriented.”
I’m still working on that!
Of course, there are also moments when I spend three hours trying to become emotionally mature, then walk out of the room thinking the dice are actually criminals!
But in the end, you always have to come back to the same question:
Did I make the right decision?
8. In your view, what separates a great player from someone who can consistently perform well in the biggest tournaments?
I think there are several factors.
Technical ability is obviously necessary, but at the highest level, everyone knows how to play.
For me, the main difference is consistency under pressure and the ability to adapt to different situations.
And perhaps most importantly, the ability to control your emotions when the dice seem to be laughing at you, and to distance yourself from the feeling that the dice somehow owe you something!
That is much harder than it sounds.
Can you still make the right decision when you are angry and frustrated?
Can you recover after a mistake or a terrible roll and stop it from affecting your next game?
Then there is the inner voice in your head, the story you tell yourself as the match develops.
“Am I unlucky? Is the match slipping away? Do I need to do something to turn it around? Am I going to lose?”
In my opinion, the best players are able to quiet that mental noise and see the position on the board for what it really is.
I think that mental battle is a huge part of performing consistently at the highest level.
9. People usually see tournament results and photos. What do you think they do not see about the life of a professional backgammon player?
I would love to call myself a professional backgammon player, but I’m not sure I’m quite there yet!
People mostly see the glamorous moments: the trophy, the final table, and the photos.
What they do not see is how difficult it really is to win.
Even the best players in the world only have a small edge over their opponents because luck is such a big part of the game.
You can travel across the world, play brilliantly, and still get knocked out very early.
Then you have to deal with that result, learn from it, and sit down at the board again.
For me, family, work, and normal life are also happening alongside all of this.
The results are visible to everyone, but most of the losses, practice, and effort required to balance the different parts of life happen quietly in the background.
10. You have spent years in the international backgammon scene. How do you think the game has changed, and what does it need in order to grow further?
I wish I could say I had been part of the international backgammon scene for years, but the truth is that this is actually my first year in it!
What I have noticed is how quickly things are changing.
Technology is advancing rapidly. Live streaming has become a much more important part of tournaments, and more platforms, organizations, and individuals are experimenting with new ideas and trying to move the game forward.
I think that competition is healthy.
But in my view, the biggest opportunity is still at the grassroots level.
If we really want backgammon to grow, we need to bring more young people into the game through schools, youth programs, and environments where children can learn the game, feel that they belong, and have a path to improve.
We also need to tell the story of backgammon better.
The game has everything: skill, luck, psychology, culture, interesting personalities, and excitement.
But sometimes we still present it like an Excel spreadsheet!
People do not fall in love with public relations and marketing.
They fall in love with the game itself and the people around it.
11. If a young player told you, “I want to become world champion one day,” what would you say?
Be curious, enjoy the game, and ask questions.
Play a lot and do not be afraid to make mistakes.
Study the game, but do not become so obsessed with finding the computer’s recommended move that you lose your own feel and understanding of the game.
Play against stronger players and learn from them.
And most importantly, do not make becoming world champion the only thing that matters in your life.
You can control how much you improve and what kind of player you become.
But you cannot control the dice.
12. As a father and someone who has experienced professional-level backgammon, if your children wanted to pursue the game professionally, would you encourage them? Why?
I encourage my children to pursue whatever they genuinely love.
If that happens to be backgammon, I will support them completely.
But it has to be their choice.
As a father, I do not think my job is to decide who my children should become.
My job is to give them the confidence and support they need to find their own path.
If backgammon becomes part of that path, I will be there with them every step of the way.
13. Looking ahead, what goals still motivate you? Is there a particular achievement in backgammon that you still want to reach?
I have a lot of goals.
Personally, I want to keep improving. I have not even competed in BMAB events yet, and I would love to reach Grandmaster level one day.
Of course, I would also love to have another opportunity to play in a World Championship final.
But now, a large part of my motivation goes beyond simply playing.
I am building the Pip & Pivot brand, growing the Africa Open, and I am now also a board member of the World Backgammon Federation (WBGF), a position that gives me another way to contribute to the game.
If I can become a better player, help backgammon grow, inspire the next generation, and leave behind something meaningful, that would be incredibly valuable to me.
14. Finally, if you could go back to the beginning of your backgammon journey and speak to a younger Doran, what would you tell him?
I would probably just tell him not to overthink everything so much!
Enjoy playing and let the game be what it is.
One day, backgammon will become a way for you to express yourself, a way to live completely in the moment and, strangely enough, to connect many of the things you have loved throughout your life.
Competition, travel, creativity, people, and stories.
You cannot understand any of that yet.
Just keep rolling the dice! 🎲