"I PLAN to buy everything I land on."

Monopoly fan Stuart Yates' strategy seemed simple enough.

But would it be enough to get Stuart one of four prized top places in the Bournemouth heat to get into the grand final in London -and then a shot at competing in Las Vegas at the Monopoly world championships?

Littledown resident Stuart, 24, a customer service employee with Standard Life, battled it out with two dozen others at the Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel.

As the air horn sounded, a look of concentration came across the tables. The rules were simple: four players per table, whose moves were scrutinised by a Monopoly banker, with several judges patrolling the room.

Josef Kollar, a 63-year-old accountant from Blackfield, near Southampton, was a striking figure in a Monopoly suit, complete with a Monopoly tie and top hat.

He initially didn't think much of the game when he was introduced to it by a friend.

"I said It's too complicated, there's too many rules'," he said.

"I was persuaded to play a second time. The third time I took it away and started reading the rules. I just got hooked."

Former UK Monopoly champion Mike Grabsky, 48, an IT worker from Brighton, and his brother Phil, 45, a film-maker, have played against Josef in previous years.

Mike, a British champion at Monopoly in 1987 and 1996, came third in the world championships in Monte Carlo in 1996.

He said part of the game was skill, but unlike chess, part of Monopoly was also about luck.

He said: "I have about 20 sets at home because people buy them as presents.

"French, German sets, a Brighton one, a New York set, a Russian one - it was kind of banned in Russia for many years because of the capitalistic aspirations of the game."

Mike and his brother Phil played the game as children.

Phil added: "There's something nice about sitting down with a lot of people, to have to interact with them.

"This is one of the few games you are talking with the other players, it's a good training for real life."

And for those who didn't get through the regional heat, there was always the option of shutting themselves in jail for a commemorative photo.

  • Since 1935, more than 250 million copies of Monopoly have been sold in 103 countries and 37 languages.

More than 200 editions of the game have been published but the most popular is the Number Nine version, based on the streets of Atlantic City.

It is nearly identical to the version submitted by creator Charles Darrow to Parker Brothers.