Adorable Story #37: a Very Special Backgammon Tournament — Part 1

The chronicle of the first (and probably last), most lucrative, Backgammon floating tournament

“I always thought backgammon was a particular cut of bacon.”

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London

In the early hours of a Tuesday morning of 1974, Esmond Cooper-Key woke up in his luxurious Mayfair apartment with the feeling that he was about to embark on something slightly mischievous, perhaps even eccentric.

Esmond quickly packed his suitcase, throwing in a mix of items including a tuxedo, sneakers, and other various random garments that caught his eye. He swiftly made his way to the car, drove to the bank as soon as it opened, wrote a check for cash, and drove to Heathrow Airport, where he caught a noon flight to New York City.

New York

After consuming about eight hours’ worth of champagne, Esmond arrived at JFK Airport and took a cab to Pier 84, located on the Hudson River side of Manhattan.

At Pier 84, Esmond saw the staggering profile of the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE 2) ship, towering above the pier like a 13-story building and stretching longer than three football fields from bow to stern.

Esmond quickly made his way through a ring of toy balloons trying to reach the First-Class cabin that he had booked for the QE 2’s return voyage to England on the same evening.

The Tournament

For the next 6 days and nights, the QE2 would have been the residence of the “DUNHILL INTERNATIONAL BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT.”

Under the tournament sign, there were slots reserved for the names of 32 specially invited players and the recorded outcomes of their matches.