The very next day after winning the World Championship, he was defeated in a 7-point match by Hans Berliner's computer program BKG 9.8,Berliner, Hans, et al. "Backgammon program beats world champ", ACM SIGART Bulletin, Issue 69. January 1980. pp. 6–9. becoming the first world champion in any board game to be defeated by a software program. Although Villa's play in the match was stronger, the computer received more favorable dice rolls, winning the match 7–1. The match was played for US$5,000, and drew an audience of 200 people.
