| Sir George Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Full name | George Alan Thomas |
| Country | England |
| Born | 14 June 1881 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Died | 23 July 1972 (aged 91) London, England |
| Title | International Master, International Arbiter |
Sir George Alan Thomas, Bart. (born Therapia, Turkey; 14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British badminton, tennis and chess player. He was twice British Chess Champion and a 21-time All-England Badminton champion. He also played in the semi-finals of the men's tennis doubles at Wimbledon in 1911[1]. Badminton's world men's team championships cup, equivalent to tennis's Davis Cup, is named Thomas Cup after him.
Thomas lived most of his life in London and Godalming. He never married, so the hereditary Thomas baronetcy ended on his death. He was admired for his fine sportsmanship.
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Counting both single and double titles, Thomas is the most successful player ever in the All England Open Badminton Championships, considered the unofficial World Badminton Championships, with 21 titles between 1906 and 1928. Four of those titles were in men's singles (consecutive titles between 1920-23), nine in men's doubles and eight in mixed doubles. His haul probably would have been larger if World War I had not caused the competition to be cancelled from 1915 to 1919.
In 1934 he was co-founder of the International Badminton Federation (now Badminton World Federation), of which he was president from 1934 to 1955.
Inspired by tennis's Davis Cup, first held in 1900, and football's World Cup, first held in 1930, Thomas had the idea of organizing an international competition for country teams in badminton. In 1939 his idea was well received at the general meeting of the International Badminton Federation.[2][3]. In the same year, Sir George presented the Thomas Cup, officially known as The International Badminton Championship Challenge Cup, produced by Atkin Bros of London at a cost of US$40,000. The Cup stands 28 inches high and 16 inches across at its widest, and consists of three parts: a plinth (pedestal), a bowl, and a lid with a player figure[3]. The first tournament was originally planned for 1941-1942, but due to World War II wasn't realized until 1948-1949, when ten national teams participated in the first Thomas Cup competition. Despite its British origins, England's best finish in the Thomas Cup has been a third place in 1984.
Thomas was inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame as an Inaugural Member in 1996.
Thomas was British Chess Champion in 1923 and 1934. He shared first prize at the 1934/5 Hastings International Chess Congress in very good company, tying with the next world chess champion Max Euwe and leading Soviet player Salo Flohr, ahead of past and future world champions José Raúl Capablanca and Mikhail Botvinnik, whom he defeated in their individual games.
Thomas also defeated Euwe in tournament play and held Alekhine to six draws. His 'lifetime' scores against the world's elite were however less flattering: he had minuses against Emanuel Lasker (−1, not counting a win in a Lasker simultaneous exhibition in 1896), Capablanca (+1−5=3), Alekhine (−7=6), Efim Bogoljubov (−5=3), Euwe (+1−9=2), Flohr (+2−9=4) and Savielly Tartakower (+3−9=10). He also fared badly against Edgard Colle (+1–9=8). More impressively, he did manage even scores with Botvinnik (+1−1), Richard Réti (+3−3=1) and Siegbert Tarrasch (+1−1=3). Against Géza Maróczy, the balance was in Thomas' favour (+3−1=5).
Domestically, he held a plus score against his great English rival Frederick Yates (+13 –11 =13), but was less successful against Women's World Chess Champion Vera Menchik (+7−8=7),
In 1950 he was awarded the International Master title by FIDE and in 1952, became an International Arbiter. At age 69, he gave up competitive chess.