Two Games, One Case: The Combo Sets
Some households have room for one game box and no more. Some want chess for one guest and backgammon for another. And some simply like the idea that a single wooden case, closed on a shelf, holds two of the oldest board games in the world. The Manopoulos combo sets are made for all three.
There are two in the range that El Laguito Cigars carries: the Chess & Backgammon Combo Game, and a 4-in-1 set that adds ludo and snakes & ladders. This story looks at how they are built, what comes inside, and how to choose between the sizes and finishes.
A folding case with two faces
The idea is an old one. For generations, folding boards have carried a chessboard on the outside and a backgammon field on the inside, so that the same case can be played closed one way and opened the other. Manopoulos builds its combo game on that pattern. Closed, the case is a chessboard. Opened, it becomes a backgammon board, with the chessmen, the checkers and the dice stored inside.
The playing fields are printed and sealed onto the wooden case, and the case is assembled and finished by hand in Thebes, in the same workshop that makes the house’s backgammon boards. A printed and sealed field gives a smooth, durable surface that stands up to years of dice and checkers, and it allows designs that would be difficult in inlaid wood. For the older inlay technique itself, see the story on marquetry in this journal.
Each Chess & Backgammon Combo Game holds everything needed for both games:
- 32 wooden chessmen
- 30 wooden checkers, fifteen for each side
- dice
Nothing needs to be bought separately. That matters for a game that will live at a cottage, on a boat or in a family room, where the point is to open the box and play without hunting for missing pieces.
Two sizes
The combo game comes in two sizes, and the choice between them is mostly about how the set will be used.
The 27 cm set measures 27 × 27 cm, with 2.5 cm squares and a 5 cm king. It is compact enough for a bookshelf or a side table, and it suits casual games, children learning chess, and backgammon played at speed across a small table.
The 41 cm set measures 41 × 41 cm, with 4 cm squares and a 7.6 cm king. This is a full, comfortable chess size for adult players, the kind of board you can study for an hour without the pieces feeling cramped. On the inside, it gives a backgammon field with room to move the checkers cleanly and throw the dice properly.
A simple rule: if chess is the more important of the two games in your house, choose the larger set. If the box will travel often or live in a small space, the smaller one will probably be used more.
Four finishes
The combo game is offered in four looks:
- Classic walnut replica — the traditional brown board, closest in spirit to the Manopoulos backgammon replicas.
- Olive burl — the figured, honey-and-brown wood of the Greek olive tree, and the most unmistakably Greek of the four.
- Modern black — a quiet, graphic finish for a contemporary room.
- Turquoise — a brighter edition that brings a little of the Aegean indoors.
There is no wrong choice. The walnut and olive editions sit well with wooden furniture and older rooms; black and turquoise suit newer interiors, or a cottage where the game is part of the decoration. Whichever you choose, the case is natural wood, and variation in grain and shade from one case to the next is part of its character.
The 4-in-1 set for families
For households with children, Manopoulos takes the same idea further. The 4-in-1 Combo Game is a 34 cm wooden case with four playing fields: chess, backgammon, ludo and snakes & ladders. Inside are 32 wooden chessmen with a 6.5 cm king, 30 checkers, counters for ludo and snakes & ladders, and dice.
It comes in eight designs, from classic walnut to an edition drawn freehand by children. For that edition, Manopoulos donates 10% of the price to the PISTI children’s organisation. It is a good first game box for a young family, and one that grows with the children: the simple race games first, then backgammon and chess when they are ready for them.
There is something fitting about this. Manopoulos began, in 1968, with a boy watching his father play backgammon with friends after work, and learning that a game could bring people together. A box that sits in the family room and introduces children to four games at once carries that idea forward in the most direct way.
Choosing between them
If the case is for adults who play chess and backgammon, the Chess & Backgammon Combo Game is the natural choice, and the 41 cm size is the one to buy for serious chess. If the case is for a household where the players range from grandparents to grandchildren, the 4-in-1 set covers more of the family at once.
Players who already know they prefer one game may want a dedicated set instead: a backgammon replica board, or one of the wooden or metal chess sets. The combo sets are for people who want both games in one place, ready to open. For those who play backgammon the Greek way, the story on tavli in this journal explains the three games that make up a match.
Care is the same as for any wooden game. Keep the case out of direct sun and away from heaters, dust it with a soft, dry cloth, and avoid water and household sprays. Close it with the pieces inside so they travel safely.
November is when the cottage is closed for the season and the games come back into the city. A combo set is an easy one to carry home, and an easy one to leave out on the table all winter. The Manopoulos combo games are supplied in Canada by El Laguito Cigars and delivered anywhere in the country.