Julian Wilson, 49, went to Scarborough Boys' High School and represented Edgehill boxing gym, winning the Sports Star contest in 1984.

But after moving to London the same year, Julian's passion switched to backgammon and now he is in Monte Carlo for the chance to win the 200,000 euro prize after beating seven opponents in an online tournament.

The tournament started on Sunday and Julian, who now lives in Amsterdam, said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"It was in Scarborough that I learned to play backgammon and I read my first ever backgammon book from the library.

"It would certainly be great to see the England flag on the list of world champions without scrolling down three pages to 1976!

"I'm playing better now than I ever have so I have at least on outside chance. But the room will be full of the best backgammon players in the world so whoever wins will have had an extremely tough week."