View source for Sir George Thomas, 7th Baronet

{{Short description|English sports player (1881–1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
|name = Sir George Thomas, Bt
|image= GeorgeAlanThomas.jpg
|fullname = George Alan Thomas
|caption =
|country = {{flagu|England}}<br />{{flagu|United Kingdom}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|6|14|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Tarabya]], [[Istanbul]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|7|23|1881|6|14|df=y}}
|death_place = London, England, U.K.
|height                =
|turnedpro             =
|plays                 =
|careerprizemoney      =
|singlesrecord         = 320–156 (67.2%)<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Gabriel |title=George Alan Thomas: Career match record |url=https://app.thetennisbase.com/?enlace=playern&player_input_enc=THOMAS%2C+GEORGE+ALAN&player_input=&sub=2#aSubmenu |website=thetennisbase.com |publisher=Tennismem SAL |access-date=27 July 2018 |location=Madrid, Spain |date=2018}}</ref>
|singlestitles         = 26<ref name="auto"/>
|highestsinglesranking =
|AustralianOpenresult  =
|FrenchOpenresult      =
|Wimbledonresult       = QF ([[1911 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|1911]])
|USOpenresult          =
|Othertournaments      =
|Olympicsresult        =
|doublesrecord         =
|doublestitles         =
|highestdoublesranking =
|AustralianOpenDoublesresult =
|FrenchOpenDoublesresult =
|WimbledonDoublesresult = SF (1907, 1912)
|USOpenDoublesresult =
|Mixed = yes
|WimbledonMixedresult = 2R (1920, 1921)
}}
'''Sir George Alan Thomas, 7th Baronet''' (14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British [[badminton]], [[tennis]] and [[chess]] player. He was twice [[British Chess Championship|British chess champion]] and a 21-time [[All England Open Badminton Championships|All-England badminton champion]]. He also reached the [[1911 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|quarterfinals of the singles]] and the semifinals of the men's [[doubles (tennis)|tennis doubles]] at [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]] in 1911.<ref>{{cite news|title=Europe have yet to lift trophy|newspaper=Malay Mail|date=6 May 2004|url=http://moreresults.factiva.com/results/index/index.aspx?ref=MALMAI0020040506e0560001q}}</ref> Badminton's world men's team championships cup, equivalent to tennis' [[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.
==Badminton==
[[File:Ethel Thompson GA Thomas.jpg|thumb|left|Thomas and [[Ethel B. Thomson]] playing badminton c. 1905]]
Counting both singles and doubles titles, Thomas is the most successful player ever in the [[All England Open Badminton Championships]], considered the unofficial World Badminton Championships, with 21 titles from 1903 to 1928. Four of those titles were in men's singles (consecutive titles from 1920 to 1923), nine in men's doubles and eight in mixed doubles. He won his titles both before and after a hiatus in the competition from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I.
He was part of the English team that toured Canada in 1925 to promote the sport on behalf of the Canadian Badminton Association which had recently been formed in 1921.<ref name=IH>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/98143396/Badminton-in-the-1930|title=Badminton in The 1930 &#124; PDF &#124; Games Of Physical Skill &#124; Olympic Sports|website=Scribd}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/|title=UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, Southampton, England 1926|publisher=Ancestry UK}}</ref> He captained the team again when a second tour was organised during 1930. A match was held at the Granite Club in Toronto which England won 7–2.<ref name=IH/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/|title=UK, Outward Passenger Lists, Liverpool 1930 November|publisher=Ancestry UK}}</ref>
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' Davis Cup, first held in 1900, and football's [[FIFA World Cup|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.badminton-information.com/thomas_cup.html |title=The Thomas Cup |access-date=13 April 2007}}</ref><ref name=kompas>{{cite web |url=http://www.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/0604/26/or/2608921.htm |title=Mengenal Sejarah Piala Thomas |access-date=13 April 2007 |language=id |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222010423/http://www.kompas.com/kompas-cetak/0604/26/or/2608921.htm |archive-date=22 December 2007 }}</ref> 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 £1700. The Cup stands 28 inches in height and 16 inches across at its widest, and consists of three parts: a plinth (pedestal), a bowl, and a lid with a player figure.<ref name=kompas/> The first tournament was originally planned for 1941–42, but due to World War II was not realized until 1948–49, 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.
==Chess==
[[File:INTERNATIONAAL_SCHAAKTOURNOOI-PGM4011932.webm|thumb|thumbtime=0:23|George Thomas (1947)]]
Thomas was [[British Chess Championship|British Chess Champion]] in 1923 and 1934. He shared first prize at the 1934/5 [[Hastings International Chess Congress]] with the next [[world chess champion]] [[Max Euwe]] and leading Czechoslovak player [[Salo Flohr]], ahead of past and future world champions [[José Raúl Capablanca]] and [[Mikhail Botvinnik]], whom he defeated in their individual games. For Capablanca, this had been the first loss in tournament play for four years, and the first playing the white pieces for more than six years. Also in Hastings, eleven years later, Euwe would become the third world chess champion to be defeated by Thomas in a game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1042577|title=Max Euwe vs George Alan Thomas (1946)|website=chessgames.com}}</ref>
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), [[José Raúl Capablanca]] (+1−5=3), [[Alexander 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). Thomas made 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 rival [[Frederick Yates (chess player)|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]]. He gave up competitive chess at the age of 69.
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028034358/http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/thomas.htm |date=28 October 2009 |title=Sir George Thomas by Bill Wall }}.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=10672 445 chess games of Sir George Thomas ]
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{{s-reg|gb-bt}}
{{s-bef|before=George Sidney Meade Thomas}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Thomas baronets|Baronet]]'''<br>(of Yapton)''' |years=1918–1972 }}
{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Singles Men}}
{{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Doubles Men}}
{{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Doubles Mixed}}
{{Badminton Hall of Fame members}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, George, 7th Baronet}}
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:British chess players]]
[[Category:Chess arbiters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:English male badminton players]]
[[Category:English male tennis players]]
[[Category:British male tennis players]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Chess players from Istanbul]]
[[Category:Badminton executives and administrators]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]