Career
He also reached the quarterfinals of the singles and the semifinals of the men"s tennis doubles at Wimbledon in 1911. "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.
Thomas was admired for his fine sportsmanship.
Counting both singles and doubles titles, Thomas is the most successful player ever in the All England Open Championships, considered the unofficial World Championships, with 21 titles from 1906 to 1928. Four of those titles were in men"s singles (consecutive titles from 1920-1923), nine in men"s doubles and eight in mixed doubles.
In 1939 his idea was well received at the general meeting of the International Federation. In the same year, Sir George presented the Thomas Cup, officially known as The International Championship Challenge Cup, produced by Atkin Bros of London at a cost of United States$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.
The first tournament was originally planned for 1941-1942, but due to World World War II was not 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 Hall of Fame as an Inaugural Member in 1996.
Foreign 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.
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). 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.