|
|
|
Alexander Aird Thomson
Born: 20 February 1917, Glasgow - Died: May/June 1991, Mortlake, ENG
- Always referred to as Aird Thomson.
- Scottish Boys' Champion 1932, 1933 (shared).
- Member of Polytechnic CC in Glasgow, and champion of that club 1947/49/50 and 51. He also shared the title in 1937 and 1953.
- Member of the Polytechnic team that won the 1952 Richardson Cup, and Division 1 of the Glasgow Chess League (the club also won Division 2).
- Scottish Champion 1951.
- Played on Scotland's Olympiad teams at Moscow 1956, Munich 1958 and Tel-Aviv 1964.
Mr Thomson was the son of Mrs Florence Frankland Thomson, who won the Scottish Ladies' Championship on six occasions. He was in the book trade all his life, moving to London in 1954 to work at Foyles, and later, in 1982, at Waterstones. He won the Richmond & Twickenham club title in 1956 and 1962 and represented the club in the London League till his death. He married in 1961 and his wife, Susan Mary Thomson, won the Scottish Ladies title in 1965.
Aird Thomson was found dead in his flat on 5 June 1991 after neighbours had not seen him for some weeks.
Sources: BCM 1991, p 320 (information from Dinah and Ken Norman); Scottish Chess No. 124, p 25; CHESS November 1951, p 28 (photo).; CHESS July 1952, p 192.
Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotlandrevised 20/11/2020