In Octopussy, Kamal Khan’s warning to Bond after losing at backgammon is, in my opinion, his defining moment and arguably one of the strongest scenes in the entire movie. Even though I’d never claim the backgammon sequences are inherently thrilling, Bond’s quiet exposure of Khan’s cheating through weighted dice commands a dramatic sequence.

After Bond calls him out, he flips the scheme on Khan and beats him at the game and adds insult to injury by saying he prefers payment in cash instead of check. It’s a deeply satisfying humiliation and one of the rare occasions where Bond truly gets under Khan’s skin. And while Khan remains a credible and calculating villain overall, moments like this where Bond outmaneuvers him so decisively subtly chip away at Khan’s implied superiority.