Games That Travel: The Suede Roll-Up Sets

Every summer, a certain kind of Canadian packing list takes shape. Sweaters for the evenings. A paperback or two. Something for the barbecue. And, in more households than you might think, a game: a deck of cards, a chess set, a backgammon board wedged between the towels. Games travel because the people who play them do.

The trouble is that most good boards do not travel well. A folding wooden backgammon case is sturdy but heavy in a bag, and a chess set in a wooden box is something you carry with two hands. The Manopoulos suede roll-up sets start from a different question: what is the least you need to play properly?

An old idea, made lighter

Travel boards are nearly as old as the games themselves. The folding backgammon case, the form Greek tavli boards still take, is a travelling design in its own right: a board that closes on its own pieces and goes under an arm. Pocket chess sets have kept players company on trains and ships for generations. Roll-up boards in cloth or leather belong to the same long tradition. They trade the solidity of wood for something softer and lighter that can be packed almost anywhere.

Manopoulos, which has made games in Greece since 1970, is best known for its wooden backgammon boards and its cast metal chess sets. The roll-up sets take the essentials of both and put them into a form you can tie shut and forget about until the evening.

The roll-up backgammon

The roll-up backgammon is a full playing field printed on soft suede. It rolls around its own tube, and the whole set ties closed for the bag or the boat. Unrolled on a table, a picnic blanket or a cabin floor, it lies flat at 30 × 46 cm, a proper size for a real game rather than a miniature. Rolled up, it is 8 cm across.

The field is printed and sealed and its edges are bound, work done by hand in the Manopoulos workshop in Thebes. With it come 30 mother-of-pearl acrylic checkers and two dice. The checkers have the look of pearl with the practicality of acrylic, which matters when the game is being played on the deck of a boat.

The set comes in nine field colours, each with contrasting points. The one shown here is cinnamon brown, a warm, quiet colour that sits well beside wood, leather and a glass on the table. Brighter colours are there for anyone who wants a board that is easy to find at the bottom of a beach bag.

Because there is no case, the game is also quieter. The dice land on suede rather than wood. On a sailboat at anchor, or in a hotel room late at night, that is a real advantage.

There is also a pleasure in the ritual. Untie the cord, unroll the field, shake out the checkers, and a picnic table becomes a game in less than a minute. When the last game is over, the whole thing rolls back up and disappears into the bag again, leaving nothing behind but the argument about who won.

The roll-up chess set

The chess set follows the same logic. The chessboard is printed on suede, 28 × 39 cm open, and rolls around its tube. The difference is in the pieces: 32 metal chessmen in an antique brass and pewter finish, cast and finished by hand in the Manopoulos foundry tradition.

That combination is unusual. Many travel chess sets make their compromise in the pieces, with light, small men that are hard to read across the board. Here the compromise is made in the board instead. The pieces have the weight and presence of a home set; only the board has been made portable. For a player who takes the game seriously, that is the right way round.

The board comes in seven colours. It is a set made for the road, for players who want metal pieces without a wooden box, and it makes a considered gift for someone who travels with a game in their luggage.

Where they go

• The cottage. Rolled on a shelf all winter, unrolled on the dock all summer.
• The boat. No hinges, no clasp, no case to slide off the table.
• The hotel room. A quiet game after dinner on a long trip.
• The park. A board on a bench or a blanket on a summer afternoon.
• The guest room. A set to leave out for visitors who like to play.

If you would rather travel with wood, the smaller sizes of the Manopoulos wooden backgammon boards, down to 20 × 12 cm, also fit in a bag. The story on tavli in this journal explains the three Greek games worth playing on any of them.

Caring for suede

Suede asks for little. Roll the board loosely, keep it dry, and keep it out of strong sun when it is not in use, so the colour stays even. Brush off sand or dust with a soft, dry brush or cloth rather than water. If a board gets damp on the dock, let it dry flat at room temperature, away from a heater, before rolling it up again. For the wooden boards at home, the story on caring for a wooden game board in this journal covers the rest.

Carried in a bag, rolled on a shelf, unrolled wherever the evening ends up: that is what these sets are for. El Laguito Cigars carries the Manopoulos suede roll-up backgammon and chess sets and delivers them anywhere in Canada.