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Greg Maddux

Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966), also known as "Mad Dog" and "the Professor," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. He won the 1995 World Series with the Braves over the Cleveland Indians. Maddux was the first pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young Award four consecutive years (1992–1995), matched by only one other pitcher, Randy Johnson. During those four seasons, Maddux had a 75–29 record with a 1.98 earned run average (ERA), while allowing less than one baserunner per inning.

Maddux is the only pitcher in MLB history to win at least 15 games for 17 straight seasons. He also holds the record for most Gold Gloves by any player with 18, and most putouts by a pitcher with 546, including a tied live-ball-era record of 39 putouts in a season (1990, 1991, 1993). A superb control pitcher, Maddux won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher and is 8th on the all-time career wins list with 355. Only Warren Spahn (363) recorded more career wins than Maddux since the start of the post-1920 live-ball era. Maddux also has the most wins among pitchers who made their debuts after World War II. He is one of only ten pitchers ever to achieve both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, and is the only pitcher to record more than 300 wins, more than 3,000 strikeouts, and fewer than 1,000 walks (exactly 999 walks overall).

Since his retirement as a player, Maddux has also served as a special assistant to the general manager for both the Cubs and Texas Rangers. On January 8, 2014, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility, receiving 97.2% of the votes. In 2012, writer Jason Lukehart coined the term "Maddux" to describe when a pitcher throws a complete game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches; Maddux holds the record for most times accomplishing this feat (13) since pitch counts began to be tracked in 1988. The runner-up for this accomplishment is Zane Smith with seven such games.

Early life
Maddux was born in San Angelo, Texas, and spent much of his childhood in Madrid, Spain, where the United States Air Force stationed his father. His father exposed him to baseball at an early age. Upon his return to Las Vegas, Nevada, Maddux and his brother Mike, who became a pro player himself, trained under the supervision of Ralph Meder, a former scout from the majors. Meder preached the value of movement and location above velocity, and advised throwing softer when in a jam instead of harder. Maddux would later say, "I believed it. I don't know why. I just did."

Though Meder died before Maddux graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas in 1984, he instilled a firm foundation that would anchor Maddux's future career. At Valley High, he was teammates on the school's baseball team with future Major League pitcher Steve Chitren and helped lead the school to a state championship as a junior in 1983. While in Las Vegas, he played American Legion Baseball with Post 8. He was named the organization's Graduate of the Year in 1984.

His brother, Mike, was drafted in 1982. When scouts went to observe the elder Maddux, their father, Dave, told them, "You will be back later for the little one." Some baseball scouts were unimpressed by Maddux's skinny build, but Chicago Cubs scout Doug Mapson saw past the physique. Mapson wrote a glowing review that read in part, "I really believe this boy would be the number one player in the country if only he looked a bit more physical."

Chicago Cubs (1986–1992)
The Chicago Cubs selected Maddux in the second round of the 1984 Major League Baseball draft and he chose to sign in lieu of honoring a commitment to play college baseball at the University of Arizona. He made his major league debut on September 3, 1986, the conclusion of the September 2 game which had been postponed due to darkness (lights were not installed at Wrigley Field until 1988). At the time, Maddux was the youngest player in the majors. His first appearance in a major league game was as a pinch runner (for catcher Jody Davis) in the 17th inning against the Houston Astros. Maddux then pitched in the 18th inning, allowing a home run to Billy Hatcher and taking the loss. His first start, five days later, was a complete game win. In his fifth and final start of 1986, Maddux defeated his older brother, who was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, marking the first time rookie brothers had pitched against each other. Mike Maddux was well used to his younger brother's competitive spirit, saying of their youth, "If Greg couldn't win, he didn't want to play, plain and simple." In 1987, his first full season in the majors, Maddux struggled to a 6–14 record and 5.61 ERA, but he flourished in 1988, finishing 18–8 with a 3.18 ERA. This began a streak of 17 straight seasons in which Maddux recorded 15 or more wins, the longest such streak in MLB history.

Maddux established himself as the Cubs' ace in 1989, winning 19 games, including a September game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium that clinched the Cubs' second-ever National League Eastern Division championship. Manager Don Zimmer tabbed him to start Game One of the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants. He allowed eight runs and was relieved after surrendering Will Clark's grand slam with two outs in the fourth. Maddux believed that just before the grand slam, when Maddux had a conversation with Zimmer, Clark watched, read Maddux's lips (Maddux said, "Fastball, high, inside), and so knew what pitch to expect. After that incident, Maddux always covered his mouth with his glove during conversations on the mound. Maddux took a no-decision in Game Four; the Cubs ended up losing the NLCS four-games-to-one.

After consecutive 15-win seasons in 1990 and 1991, Maddux won 20 games in 1992, tied for the NL lead, and was voted his first National League Cy Young Award. Free agency was pending for Maddux, but contract talks with the Cubs became contentious and eventually ceased. Both Chicago general manager Larry Himes and Maddux's agent, Scott Boras, accused the other of failing to negotiate in good faith. The Cubs eventually decided to pursue other free agents, including José Guzmán, Dan Plesac, and Candy Maldonado. After seven seasons in Chicago, Maddux signed a five-year, $28 million deal with the Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta Braves (1993–2003)
Maddux made his debut with the Braves on April 5, 1993, as their opening day starter against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, beating his former teammates 1–0. He finished the regular season with a 20–10 record, led the NL with a 2.36 ERA, and won his second straight Cy Young Award. The Braves took their rotation of Maddux, 22-game winner Tom Glavine, 18-game winner Steve Avery, and 15-game winner John Smoltz to the postseason. Maddux won against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Two of the NLCS, but with Atlanta trailing 3 games to 2, lost the decisive Game Six.

During the strike-shortened 1994 season, Maddux posted an ERA of 1.56, the second-lowest since Bob Gibson's historic 1.12 in 1968, the last year of the elevated mound, and the lowest in the majors since Dwight Gooden's 1.53 in 1985. It pleased Maddux that his 1994 batting average (.222) was higher than his ERA. Maddux also led the National League in wins (with 16) and innings pitched (202) in his third Cy Young-winning year. Maddux also finished 5th in National League Most Valuable Player voting in 1994.

In the 1995 season, Maddux was 19–2 and he posted the third-lowest ERA since Gibson's: 1.63. Maddux became the first pitcher to post back-to-back ERAs under 1.80 since Walter Johnson in 1918 (1.27) and 1919 (1.49). Maddux's 1.63 ERA came in a year when the overall league ERA was 4.23. Since the beginning of the live-ball era in 1920, there have only been five pitchers to have full-season ERAs under 1.65: Gibson and Luis Tiant in the anomalous 1968 season, Gooden in 1985, and Maddux, twice. Maddux's 19 wins led the National League, for the third time in four seasons.

On May 28, 1995, he beat the Astros, losing a no-hitter on an eighth-inning home run to Jeff Bagwell. It was the only nine-inning one-hitter of his career. In June and July, Maddux threw 51 consecutive innings without issuing a walk. Maddux pitched effectively in all three of the Braves's postseason series, winning a game in each. His Game One victory in the 1995 World Series involved nine innings, two hits, no walks, and no earned runs with Orel Hershiser pitching for the Cleveland Indians. Maddux took the loss in Game Five, but the Atlanta Braves won their first World Series championship two days later. Following the 1995 season, Maddux won his fourth straight Cy Young Award, a major league record, and his second consecutive unanimous award. Maddux also finished third in that year's National League Most Valuable Player voting. The Atlanta Braves also made good on a pre-season promise to their pitching rotation, installing a putting green in the locker room at the newly built Turner Field following the World Series victory.

From 1996 to 1998, Maddux finished fifth, second, and fourth in the Cy Young voting. In August 1997, Maddux signed a $57.5-million, five-year contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in baseball. In February 2003, he avoided arbitration by signing a one-year $14.75-million deal. Maddux's production remained consistent: a 19–4 record in 1997, 18–9 in 1998, 19–9 in both 1999 and 2000, 17–11 in 2001, 16–6 in 2002, and 16–11 in 2003, his last season as a Brave. From 1993 to 1998, Maddux led the National League in ERA four times, and was second the other two seasons.

On July 22, 1997, Maddux threw a complete game with just 78 pitches (36 strikes, 20 batted balls, 13 balls, 5 hits, and 4 fouls) against the Cubs. Three weeks earlier, he had shut out the defending champion New York Yankees on 84 pitches, and five days before that he had beaten the Phillies with a 90-pitch complete game. Maddux allowed just 20 bases on balls in 1997, including six intentional walks.

Maddux struck out 200+ batters for the only time in his career in 1998. He outdueled the Cubs' Kerry Wood to clinch the NLDS, but the Braves were eliminated in the next round. The Braves returned to the World Series in 1999. Maddux was the Game One starter, and took a 1–0 lead into the eighth inning before a Yankee rally cost him the game and eventually the series as the Braves were swept.

On June 14, 2000, Maddux made his 387th putout to break Jack Morris's career record. In September 2000, he had a streak of 40$1⁄3$ scoreless innings. He pitched poorly in his one playoff start of 2000. In May 2001, Maddux became the first Braves pitcher since 1916 to throw two 1–0 shutouts in the same month. The first included a career-best 14 strikeouts. In July and August of that year, Maddux pitched 72$1⁄3$ consecutive innings without giving up a walk; that streak ended when he intentionally threw four balls to Steve Finley. In 2002, he won his 13th straight Gold Glove Award, a NL record. Maddux tied Jim Kaat's career record of 16 Gold Gloves after the 2006 season.

Throughout most of his years with the Braves, in the tradition of other pitching greats such as Steve Carlton, Maddux often had his own personal catcher. At various times Maddux used Charlie O'Brien, Eddie Pérez, Paul Bako, and Henry Blanco, for the majority of his starts, though regular starter Javy López did sometimes catch Maddux in the postseason.

Maddux was the crown jewel in the much-vaunted Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, who pitched together for over a decade as the core of one of the best pitching staffs in the history of the game. The three were the linchpin of a team that won its division (the National League West in 1993 and the East from then on) every year that Maddux was on the team (1994 had no division champions). The three pitchers were frequently augmented by other strong starters such as Steve Avery, Kevin Millwood, Denny Neagle, and Russ Ortiz. In 1995, they pitched the Braves to a World Series title. In 29 postseason games with Atlanta, Maddux had a 2.81 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP, but just an 11–13 record.

Second stint with the Chicago Cubs (2004–2006)
Maddux returned to the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2004 season, when he signed with them on February 18, 2004. Maddux got his first win on April 23 after losing 3 consecutive games at the beginning of the season. On August 7, Maddux defeated the San Francisco Giants, 8–4, to garner his 300th career victory. In April 2005, he beat Roger Clemens for his 306th win in the first National League matchup between 300-game winners in 113 years. On July 26, 2005, after a three-hour rain delay, Maddux struck out Omar Vizquel to become the thirteenth member of the 3,000 strikeout club and only the ninth pitcher with both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, having reached both marks against the San Francisco Giants. Maddux finished as one of the four pitchers to top 3,000 strikeouts while having allowed fewer than 1,000 walks (he had 999). The other three pitchers who have accomplished this feat are Ferguson Jenkins, Curt Schilling, and Pedro Martínez.

Maddux's 13–15 record in 2005 was his first losing record since 1987, and snapped a string of seventeen consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins. (Cy Young had surpassed the 15-win total for 15 straight years; both Young and Maddux reached 13+ wins for 19 consecutive seasons. This is even more impressive considering that Cy Young pitched in an era with no more than 4 regular starters that would average more than 40+ games per season, whereas Maddux pitched in an era with a 5-man rotation when reaching 40 starts in a season was virtually unheard of.)

Los Angeles Dodgers (2006)
Maddux's second stint with the Chicago Cubs lasted until mid-2006, when he was traded for the first time in his career, to the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time, the Dodgers were in the thick of a playoff race. In his first Dodger start, Maddux threw six no-hit innings before a rain delay interrupted his debut. In his next start, Maddux needed just 68 pitches to throw eight shutout innings. On August 30, 2006, he won his 330th career game, passing Steve Carlton to take sole possession of 10th on the all-time list. On September 30, 2006, Maddux pitched seven innings in San Francisco, allowing two runs and three hits in a 4–2 victory over the Giants, clinching a postseason spot for the Dodgers and notching another 15-win season. It was Maddux's 18th season among his league's Top 10 for wins, breaking a record he'd shared with Cy Young and Warren Spahn, who did it 17 times apiece. However, the Dodgers were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Mets. Maddux started the third and final game, throwing an ineffective no-decision. Maddux was honored with a Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding pitcher in MLB for 2006.

San Diego Padres (2007–2008)
On December 5, 2006, Maddux agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the San Diego Padres with a player option for the 2008 season, an option that Maddux later exercised at a reported $10 million. Maddux earned his 338th victory in the game that Trevor Hoffman earned his milestone 500th save. On August 24, 2007, he won his 343rd game to take sole possession of ninth place on the all-time win list. He achieved another milestone with the same win, becoming the only pitcher in the major leagues to have 20 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins and placing him second on the list for most 10-win seasons, tied with Nolan Ryan and behind Don Sutton, who has 21. Also in 2007, Maddux reached 13 wins for the 20th consecutive season, passing Cy Young for that major league record. He finished the season with a career total 347 wins. Maddux won a record 17th Gold Glove award in 2007, surpassing the record held by Brooks Robinson. On May 10, 2008, Maddux won his 350th game. Also in 2008, he became the oldest pitcher to steal a base at 42, incidentally against the Braves.

Second stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008)
Maddux was traded back to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 19 for two players to be named later or cash considerations by the San Diego Padres. His return to Los Angeles was unlike his debut, though, as he allowed 7 earned runs on 9 hits while taking a loss against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Maddux pitched his 5,000th career inning against the San Francisco Giants on September 19. On September 27, in his final start of the season, he won his 355th game, moving him ahead of Roger Clemens into 8th place in all-time wins. Maddux ranks tenth in career strikeouts with 3,371. His strikeout total is balanced against 999 walks. For the 2008 season, he posted an 8–13 record. His 1.4 walks per 9 innings pitched were the best in the majors.

After the Dodgers won the National League West, Maddux was moved to the bullpen after manager Joe Torre decided to go with a three-man rotation. Maddux pitched three innings of relief during the series (which the Dodgers lost), allowing two runs. Maddux was noted for his ability to warm up quickly. Maddux received his 18th Gold Glove Award in November 2008, extending his own major league record. A month later, he announced his retirement.

Post-playing career
On January 11, 2010, Maddux was hired by the Chicago Cubs as an assistant to General Manager Jim Hendry. In his return to Chicago, his focus was on developing pitchers' styles and techniques throughout the organization, including minor league affiliates. For the 2012 season Maddux left his position with the Cubs and joined the Texas Rangers organization, where his brother Mike was the pitching coach.

He was announced as the pitching coach for the USA team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

On February 2, 2016, he was hired by the Dodgers as a special assistant to the President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman.

On July 6, 2016, Maddux was hired as an assistant baseball coach for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. For 4 years, he served as the pitching coach. Greg's son, Chase, was a pitcher for the Rebels.

On February 14, 2023, Maddux was hired as a special assistant for Spring Training by the Texas Rangers, joining his brother Mike Maddux, who became the team's new pitching coach.

Pitching style
Maddux relied on his command, composure, and guile to outwit hitters. Though his fastball touched 93 mph in his early years, his velocity steadily declined throughout his career, and was never his principal focus as a pitcher. By the end of his career, his fastball averaged less than 86 mph. Maddux was also noted for the late movement on his sinker (two-seam fastball), which, combined with his control, made him known as an excellent groundball pitcher. While Maddux was not known for his strikeout totals, his strikeout totals have often been undersold because strikeout rate has often been measured per nine innings, rather than per batter faced. Maddux alternated his two-seam fastball with an excellent circle changeup. Though these served as his primary pitches, he also threw a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a curveball, a slider, and a splitter.

Maddux was renowned for focusing on the outside corner. This approach was emphasized under former Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone. He would begin by throwing strikes with his fastball down and away, and then expand the strike zone with his changeup—sometimes obtaining borderline strike calls from umpires simply on the strength of his reputation. In complement with this strategy, Maddux popularized a tactic of throwing his two-seam fastball off the plate inside to left-handed hitters, only to have the ball break back over the inside corner for a strike. Maddux said of that pitch, "That was just my normal fastball that did that. ... I always had it. The pitch really started to work for me when I ... learned how to throw a cutter, it made that pitch more effective."

In addition, his propensity for throwing strikes and avoiding walks kept his pitch counts low. On July 2, 1997, he won a game against the New York Yankees, for example, with the numbers "nine innings, three hits, no walks, eight strikeouts, one pickoff, one double play, 84 pitches ... [in] two hours and nine minutes". Dodgers general manager Fred Claire admired Maddux's pitching consistency, saying "It's almost like a guy lining up a 60-foot-6-inch putt ... he is just so disciplined, so repetitive in his pitches." Speaking about Maddux's accuracy, Orel Hershiser said, "This guy can throw a ball in a teacup." Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs talked about facing Maddux: "It seems like he's inside your mind with you. When he knows you're not going to swing, he throws a straight one. He sees into the future. It's like he has a crystal ball hidden inside his glove."

Maddux was also known for intensely studying hitters in preparation for his starts. He would often watch hitters take their warmup swings or read their body language to gauge their mentality. Teammate Tom Glavine said, "I think the hitters think he can go back and recall every pitch he has ever thrown. That's not the case, but I think he's probably better at remembering things than most people are. He's definitely better in the course of the game at making adjustments on a hitter based on what he's seen, whether it's one swing or a guy's last at-bat."

Finally, Maddux has been praised for his superior pitching mechanics, helping him avoid serious arm injuries throughout his lengthy career. His only stint on the 15-day disabled list was in 2002, due to nerve inflammation on his back. One analyst of pitching mechanics wrote, "Maddux's sterling reputation for pitching mechanics is more than justified. He could repeat his delivery as well as any pitcher that I have ever seen, with consistent timing and positioning that persisted regardless of pitch type or pitch count, giving the impression that he was never fatigued." Maddux was also a highly durable pitcher, leading the National League in innings pitched in five consecutive years. He pitched at least 194 innings for 21 consecutive seasons, and finished with the lowest BB/9 ratio in the National League nine times.

Pitching profile
Maddux has been credited by many of his teammates with a superior ability to out-think his opponents and anticipate results. Braves catcher Eddie Pérez tells the story of Maddux intentionally allowing a home run to the Astros' Jeff Bagwell, in anticipation of facing Bagwell in the playoffs months later. Maddux felt Bagwell would instinctively be looking for the same pitch again, which Maddux would then refuse to throw. On another occasion while sitting on the bench, Maddux once told his teammates, "Watch this, we might need to call an ambulance for the first base coach." The batter, Los Angeles' José Hernández, drove the next pitch into the chest of the Dodgers' first base coach. Maddux had noticed that Hernández, who'd been pitched inside by Braves pitching during the series, had shifted his batting stance slightly. On another occasion, a former teammate, outfielder Marquis Grissom, recalled a game in 1996 when Maddux was having trouble spotting his fastball. Between innings, he told Grissom, "Gary Sheffield is coming up next inning. I am going to throw him a slider and make him just miss it so he hits it to the warning track." The at-bat went as Maddux had predicted.

Early in the 2000 season, Maddux was asked by sportswriter Bob Nightengale what had been the most memorable at-bat of his pitching career. Maddux said it was striking out Dave Martinez to end a regular season game. Nightengale was surprised Maddux hadn't picked a postseason game, or a more famous player. Maddux explained: "I remember that one because he got a hit off me in the same situation (full count, bases loaded, two out in the 9th inning) seven years earlier. I told myself if I ever got in the same situation again, I'll pitch him differently. It took me seven years, but I got him."

Publicly, however, Maddux is dismissive of his reputation, saying, "People think I'm smart? You know what makes you smart? Locate your fastball down and away. That's what makes you smart. You talk to Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, or Tom Seaver. They'll all tell you the same thing. It's not your arm that makes you a great pitcher. It's that thing between both of your ears we call a brain."

To this day, Maddux maintains Koufax, Gibson, and Seaver are the three best pitchers of the "live ball" era of baseball. Informed by The Sporting News he had been voted best pitcher of the 1990s, he replied, "It [the award] could have gone to Glavine or Smoltz just as easily and each would have deserved it. They're both great pitchers."

Maddux never walked more than 82 batters in any season of his career, averaging fewer than 2 walks per game. In 1997, Maddux allowed 20 walks in 232+ innings, or 0.77 per nine innings. In 2001, he set a National League record by going 72$1⁄3$ innings without giving up a walk.

Maddux's low walk totals also kept his pitch counts down, enabling him to go deeper into games. In 31 starts, Maddux threw nine innings with 100 or fewer pitches. Ten of those starts were under 90 pitches, including a 78-pitch complete game in July 1997, the most efficient start by any pitcher since 1979. In recognition of this, the statistic describing a complete game shut-out thrown in less than 100 pitches was named after him. Maddux is the career leader for this stat, having pitched thirteen such games.

He is also known to finish the game quickly. On June 27, 1998, he pitched a complete-game shutout against the Toronto Blue Jays in 102 pitches, but it was his fastest game in terms of time: 106 minutes, or 1 hour 46 minutes. This is including the customary 6th-inning timeout and mound visit.

Awards
In addition to his pitching skills, Maddux was an excellent fielding pitcher. He won 18 Gold Gloves, the record for any position. Of his 18 total awards, Maddux won 10 with the Braves, five with the Cubs, two with the Dodgers and one with the Padres. Maddux was also a good hitting pitcher, with a career .171 batting average, including four seasons batting .200 or better. He hit 5 home runs, with 84 RBIs.

Maddux pitched in 13 Division Series contests, 17 League Championship games and five World Series games. He has a 3.27 ERA in 198 postseason innings, including an outstanding 2.09 ERA in $38 2/3$ World Series innings. He was chosen for the National League All-Star team eight times.

Maddux won 20 games only twice, in 1992 and 1993. However, he won 19 games five times (including the 1995 season which was reduced to 144 games from the strike of 1994), 18 games twice, and 16 in the strike shortened 1994 season (which was reduced to 115 games). He won four ERA titles (in 1993–1995 and 1998), and led the NL in shutouts five times. He holds the major league record for seasons leading his league in games started (7). He also holds the record for most seasons finishing in the top 10 in the league in wins (18).

In his 2009 book, "The Annual Baseball Gold Mine" baseball statistics guru Bill James found Maddux to be far and away the most underrated player in baseball history. The methodology for this included the fact that though Maddux only won 20 games twice, he won 19 games five times. He also had only one season of 200 or more strikeouts but had seasons of 199, 198 and 197, respectively, which diminished his reputation as a strikeout pitcher. In addition to that James also argued that although he had 18 seasons of 200 or more innings pitched, he also had three seasons of $199 1/3$, 198 and 194 innings pitched.

In 1999, Maddux ranked 39th on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking pitcher then active. He was also nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. However, when TSN updated their list in 2005, Maddux had fallen to number 51.

The Cubs retired jersey number 31 on May 3, 2009, in honor of Maddux and Ferguson Jenkins. The Atlanta Braves retired Maddux's number 31, on July 17, 2009.

"I get asked all the time was he the best pitcher I ever saw. Was he the smartest pitcher I ever saw? The most competitive I ever saw? The best teammate I ever saw? The answer is yes to all of those", said Braves manager Bobby Cox at the banquet to induct Maddux into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta on July 17, 2009.

On January 8, 2014, Maddux was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The pitcher later announced that he would not have a team logo on his plaque, citing his history with the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs: "It's impossible for me to choose one of those teams ... as the fans of both clubs in each of those cities were so wonderful", Maddux said.

Personal life
Maddux was born on April 14, 1966, the same day as former Braves teammate David Justice, and shares a birthday with former teammate Steve Avery. He is married to Kathy; the couple has two children; a daughter, Paige Maddux (born December 9, 1993), and a son, Chase Maddux (born April 19, 1997). They reside in Las Vegas.

In 2002, in the episode "Take Me out of the Ballgame", of the TV series Do Over, the main character lost a baseball game to a young Greg Maddux, who was played by Shad Hart.

The song "Movement and Location" from the Punch Brothers album Who's Feeling Young Now? was written about Maddux.

title: Greg Maddux


text:
Talk:Channel 4

Channel 4 chief: Tories tried to sway annual report to fit privatisation policy
new info on privatisation attempt

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jul/12/channel-4-tories-annual-report-privatisation-dcms-alex-mahon

John Cummings (talk) 15:45, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

Left-wing bias of this channel failed to mention in the article
should be included, they tried to frame the Brexit election of 2019 into a climate election, looking at their debates back then. Pretty obvious a left-wing channel. 62.226.84.78 (talk) 23:30, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

 * I wondered why there was no mention of its political leaning. Obviously it should be mentioned, using such evidence as exists.  Instead, the first half of this write-up gives vague hints that it's left-wing because of aiming at minority and diversity audiences and at "creativity". Later parts hint at right-wing bias because of a couple programs denying global warming. The reader has to guess. 173.73.194.206 (talk) 20:39, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

Requested move 2 October 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. There is a clear consensus that the British channel is the primary topic. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Material  Works  21:36, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Channel 4 → Channel 4 (British TV channel) – The only difference between this and Channel 5 (British TV channel) is that this channel never was branded with the word and that C5 was branded with the word during Wikipedia's developing era. Georgia guy (talk) 17:33, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Comment: The difference is that this article is considered to be the primary topic for "Channel 4", whereas the British Channel 5 is not. Are you also proposing to move Channel 4 (disambiguation) to Channel 4? Rreagan007 (talk) 19:45, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
 * User:Rreagan007; yes, but I generally propose RM's on the talk page of the first page that needs to be moved. The reason for this primary topic inconsistency is simply because of the inconsistent brand histories. In the era Wikipedia developed, C5's brand was simply "Five", without the word "channel". No similar period existed with C4. Georgia guy (talk) 23:56, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
 * You should be doing a multiple-page requested move then. Rreagan007 (talk) 00:02, 3 October 2023 (UTC)
 * It's completely irrelevant here whether and why one article is a primary topic and different one isn't. The only relevant question here is whether the British Channel 4 is the primary topic out of all articles that could be located at this title. Based on the disambiguation page, those are below.
 * {|class="wikitable"

!Article!!Page views this year!!N/40 Google results!!N/50 DDG results
 * Channel 4 (British TV channel) (i.e. this article)||837,000||26||35
 * Channel 4 (Australian TV channel)||554||0||0
 * Channel 4 (VoD service)||31,000||1||11
 * Channel 4 (Fear the Walking Dead)||3,000||0||0
 * }
 * Notes:
 * Page views have been rounded to the nearest 1000, those for this article will include people seeking a different entry on the disambiguation page, the disambiguation page received 2,800 views in the same time period.
 * Search results count the number of hits in the top 40 (Google) or 50 (DuckDuckGo) results for "Channel 4" -wikipedia were related to the relevant article. This search was performed using Tor browser to eliminate issues from my search history, the exit node was reported to be in Brooklyn.
 * Based on the above, strong oppose as the British channel is very clearly the primary topic. Thryduulf (talk) 08:55, 3 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Notes:
 * Page views have been rounded to the nearest 1000, those for this article will include people seeking a different entry on the disambiguation page, the disambiguation page received 2,800 views in the same time period.
 * Search results count the number of hits in the top 40 (Google) or 50 (DuckDuckGo) results for "Channel 4" -wikipedia were related to the relevant article. This search was performed using Tor browser to eliminate issues from my search history, the exit node was reported to be in Brooklyn.
 * Based on the above, strong oppose as the British channel is very clearly the primary topic. Thryduulf (talk) 08:55, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

 * Oppose. Very clear primary topic per above and long-term significance. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:23, 3 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Support – "Channel 4" (or "Channel " in general) is a pretty common name for local stations in the United States. For instance, when I search "Channel 4" online, the first twenty or so results include four U.S. TV stations (KDFW, KFOR, WCMH, WDAF). While the British channel is the most popular result, I think there's enough potential for other hits that the disambiguation page should take priority here. RunningTiger123 (talk) 17:30, 6 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Just to confirm the hits, I tried the search again using DuckDuckGo instead of Google and got hits for eight stations in the first twenty links (KDFW, WDIV, WFOR, WIVB, WNBC, WRC, WSMV, WTMJ). RunningTiger123 (talk) 17:38, 6 October 2023 (UTC)
 * A national channel (which was once one of only four, hence its name) versus some local channels. It's very clear which is most notable by a very long way. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:53, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Oppose In long-term significance, the British Channel 4 outweighs any of dozens of U.S. stations in its size and scope, and I can comfortably say this as someone who writes U.S. station pages by the bucket. It is also the obvious primary topic on pageviews and indeed the 10th-highest-viewed in August in all of WP:TVS with 90,470 pageviews. Sammi Brie  (she/her • t • c) 06:56, 8 October 2023 (UTC)
 * OPPOSE: For all the reasons previously given. Far more notable. - X201 (talk) 15:05, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Oppose. There seems no reason to question the primary topic status of Channel 4 (British TV channel) for the title Channel 4. The primry status bar is set high, but this article seems to meet it. Nothing has changed in this regard. Andrewa (talk) 20:49, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Channel 4


text:
Talk:Legendre polynomials

Completeness Relation
Is it appropriate to add the completeness relation to this article?
 * $$ \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \frac{2 n + 1}{2} P_n(x) P_n(y) = \delta(x - y)$$ for -1 < x < 1 and -1 < y < 1.

I feel that they are as important as orthogonality relations yet receive little mention. 75.42.225.88 (talk) 15:28, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Applications of the Legendre polynomials
Can anyone provide more concrete examples of applications of the Legendre polynomials, or when the Legendre differential equation arises? 171.64.133.56 22:48, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

 * In fact, they form a basis for the space of piecewise continuous functions defined on this interval, so any such function can be written as a linear combination of Legendre polynomials.

These can't be bases and linear combinations in the sense of linear algebra. Are we talking Hilbert space basis here?

Also, is it correct that P_n solves the differential equation with parameter n, or is n used in two different senses here? AxelBoldt 23:22 Feb 12, 2003 (UTC)

The Legendre polynomials form an orthogonal basis for the Hilbert space of square-integrable functions on the interval from -1 to 1, so we're talking about a "linear combination" in the Hilbert-space sense, i.e., not a finite linear combination. So it's easy to see that if sn is the nth partial sum, then
 * $$\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}\int_{-1}^1\left|s_n(x)-f(x)\right|^2\,dx=0.$$

But if you want pointwise convergence to a piecewise continuous function, that takes more work. The person who wrote those words doesn't seem aware of the difference kinds of convergence or of the fact that mathematicians may often construe "linear combination" to mean finite linear combination. Michael Hardy 22:11 Mar 13, 2003 (UTC)

 * Yes, well, Hilbert spaces should be discussed in the article on orthogonal polynomials anyway, so as to cover the whole kit-n-kaboodle. linas 05:32, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * Strange that in the same section you would talk about pointwise convergence towards piecewise continuous functions, and state the completeness relation in a distributional form, but no one dares to talk about the (far easier formulated) convergence in the Hilbert spaces sense (i.e., with respect to the norm in L_2([-1,1])) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.3.54.188 (talk) 13:29, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

--

Usually the singular makes more sense that the plural in the title of an article, but in this case, the title "Legendre polynomial" makes the same amount of sense as "Beattle" as the title of an article about John, Paul, George, and Ringo. The whole sequence Legendre polynomials is to be thought of as a unit. Michael Hardy 22:15 Mar 13, 2003 (UTC)

Despite the style pronouncements at , Legendre polynomial is not appropriate as a title for an article about the

Legendre polynomials

(which see!). An article about John, Paul, George, and Ringo would not be titled Beatle, but Beatles' or The Beatles''. So it is here. One does speak of a "Legendre polynomial" in the singular in some contexts, but generally those are of interest only because this polynomial sequence, like others, is thought of as a unit.

Associated Legendre functions?
My quantum mechanics text says speaks of something called the associated Legendre functions, which appears to be distinct from the associated Legendre polynomials. They have the form:

 * $$f_{lm}(\theta) = \frac{(\sin\theta)^{|m|}}{2^l l!} \left [ \frac{d}{d(\cos\theta)} \right ]^{l+|m|}(\cos^2(\theta)-1)^l$$

Is this something that somehow missed having an article? --Smack (talk) 05:46, 7 May 2005 (UTC)

 * No, you just didn't read the article carefully enough. Associated Legendre polynomials clearly mentions $$x=\cos\theta$$. linas 16:55, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

Standardization
I have reverted the word "normalize" back to "standardize", since the polynomials are not normal, and the standardization is just a convention. I'm still not happy with this -- it's a conflict between saying exactly the right thing vs. belaboring a point that isn't really important. Improvements? William Ackerman 23:38, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Works for me. Nothing wrong with adding a sentance that says: "Sometimes this is called a "normalization", although the correct meaning of normalization is that the integral of the square of the function should be unity." linas 00:14, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

 * I still think normalized is the correct word here. Normalization does not necessarily mean to transform something to norm one, it is used for any transformation to get something in standard form. However, it is not that important. I do wonder though why the word "standardize" is written in bold. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 09:16, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

 * You are using the term normalization in a too narrow sense. Requiring P_n(1)=1 is a true normalization, just not w.r.t. the Hilbert space norm, but the sup-norm (L_\infty-normalization). In the same spirit, the property that Legendre polynomials take the maximal value in x=1 is of independent interest and deserves to be mentioned explicitly — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.3.54.188 (talk) 13:23, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

Need section on roots
The roots of the Legendre polynomials are very important, e.g. for Gaussian quadrature. There are a number of beautiful proofs that $$P_n(x)$$ has exactly n roots in $$[-1,1]$$. It would be nice to mention this property (perhaps with a proof or at least with a reference) in the article.

—Steven G. Johnson (talk) 04:54, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

 * If you define the Legendre polynomials by Rodrigues' formula, then it is just Rolle's theorem, so a proof is not out of the question (but see my post below). That the roots are simple follows then from the fact that the polynomials satisfy a second order linear homogeneous differential equation, and so cannot vanish to higher order at any point of their domain, by uniqueness of solutions.  Much more can be said about the zeros of the Legendre polynomials, and there should be a section about them.  Sławomir Biały  (talk) 15:06, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

Rodrigues' formula
I have added to the lead paragraph a summary of the proof of Rodrigues' formula. However, I now wonder whether such a detailed proof benefits the article. We don't usually put detailed proofs in Wikipedia articles, particularly when these proofs are fairly routine manipulations; I think taking n+1 derivatives probably qualifies as routine. On a related note, a more useful structure might be to have a section on the various equivalence characterizations of the Legendre polynomials: differential equation, Rodrigues' formula, generating function, recursive definition. It can state briefly the reasons underlying the equivalences (hopefully without too much detail). Sławomir Biały (talk) 15:02, 29 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I think that for special functions explanations of some easy (quick) proofs in the article makes sense. Ulner (talk) 23:24, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Generating Function
I am changing "generating function" to "ordinary generating function". I also think the word "Taylor" is incorrect and should be removed; which I will do in about a week unless somebody objects. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rrogers314 (talk • contribs) 19:07, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

Legendre functions of fractional order
The current article indicates: I'm afraid that the words order and degree would be contradictory to each other. --Kkddkkdd (talk) 14:56, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
 * "Legendre functions of the fractional order of $$\nu$$"
 * "Legendre polynomial of the degree $$n$$"
 * I've changed order to degree in this section. --catslash (talk) 16:22, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Additional properties of Legendre polynomials
The last two identities here are wrong. The correct limit is

$$ lim_{\ell\rightarrow\infty} P_{\ell}(\cos \theta/\ell) = J_0(\theta) + \mathcal{O}(\ell^{-1}) $$

One cannot just take finite angles an expect the identity to work. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.225.212.8 (talk) 14:01, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Sign error in series expansion ?
It seems that the series expansion in powers of x^k that is given in the article yields the wrong sign for Legendre polynomials of odd order. This can be checked by using this formula to calculate the lowest order polynomials by hand or with Mathematica. To obtain the correct formula, a factor (-1)^l would have to be included. There is no reference given for this formula, and it does not appear in either Abramowitz or Arfken. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.103.208.6 (talk) 11:09, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Explicit representations
In the section "Recursive definition", paragraph starting "Explicit representations include", the second formula involves binomial coefficients with negative (upper) argument. While the formula is not incorrect, it would be more elegant to express in terms of binomial coefficients with positive arguments. This is easy to do. I propose to re-express this formula in this way, unless there are objections. Uhap027 (talk) 12:43, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

Now done. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Uhap027 (talk • contribs) 20:51, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

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Chebyshev polynomial table
The section Legendre polynomials in trigonometry consists mostly of a big table, which as far as I can tell is just giving the coefficients for the Chebyshev polynomials (of the first kind) with respect to the basis of Legendre polynomials—there is no noticeable pattern in these coefficients, nor any hint of an application that would make this interesting. Not everything verifiable is worth including in an article.

The very last formula in that section is however different—it seems to say that the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind $$U_n$$ are convolutions of the Legendre polynomials, which is an interesting and unexpected relation—although it could use a source. 130.243.68.155 (talk) 14:37, 11 June 2019 (UTC)

missing definition of [t^n]
in section Rodrigues' formula and other explicit formula, second equation, [t^n] is undefined. I would guess it means the Taylor coefficient of t^n, but to my knowledge, this is not universal notation. Chris2crawford (talk) 01:04, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Legendre polynomials


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Lynne Jones

Lynne Mary Jones (born 26 April 1951) is a British politician, who was the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Selly Oak from 1992 until 2010.

In October 2023, Jones reportedly quit the Labour Party following comments Keir Starmer made on the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. In May 2024, Jones joined the Green Party of England and Wales.

Early life
Jones was born in Birmingham, and attended the local Bartley Green Girls' Grammar School (now the comprehensive Hillcrest School) in Woodgate. She studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, eventually gaining her Ph.D. in 1979. She also has a post-graduate Diploma in Housing Studies from Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University). She worked in research at the University of Birmingham from 1972–86. She was a housing association manager from 1987–92. She joined the Labour Party in 1974.

She has worked in both science and housing, and was a councillor on Birmingham City Council representing Kings Norton ward from 1980–94.

Research interests
She first studied stimulus-response coupling in the rat parotid gland and at alpha adrenergic receptors. This led to a discovery that there are cell-surface receptors that are stimulated by hormones and neurotransmitters controlled by changes of intracellular calcium ion levels. It also involves the conversion of inositol phospholipids in the cell membrane. She also worked on the process of agonist-stimulated incorporation of radioactive phosphate into inositol phospholipids.

Parliamentary career
Jones was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election. She was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and took part in almost all of the backbench rebellions against the Labour government. She was also Chair of the Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism, and is a patron of Press for Change.

From 1993–2001 she was on the Science and Technology Select Committee. During the 2005–10 parliament she was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.

Leadership challenge
In February 2006, she announced her intention to stand against then Chancellor Gordon Brown in the Labour Party leadership contest expected to follow Prime Minister Tony Blair's resignation if nobody else did, so that Brown could not simply be "crowned". Subsequently, Socialist Campaign Group Chair John McDonnell attempted to stand instead, but failed to gain enough nominations from MPs and Brown was unopposed.

Retirement
Following boundary changes in Birmingham, which reduced its parliamentary representation from eleven to ten seats, Jones was expected to apply for selection for the redrawn Selly Oak constituency which contained wards from the former Selly Oak and Hall Green constituencies. However, in January 2007 Jones announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election. Jones refused to endorse Roger Godsiff in Hall Green, instead supporting the Respect candidate Salma Yaqoob, who came second.

National Executive Committee
Jones ran to be on Labour's National Executive Committee, challenging former Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones.

Personal life
She is married, and has two sons (including one born in January 1990). She married Chris Kirk in April 1994 in Lambeth. He is Chief Executive of the Biochemical Society. She is a keen cyclist.

In November 2009, she announced she was having treatment for breast cancer after a tumour was discovered at an early stage.

News items

 * Cancer diagnosis in November 2009
 * Politics Show May 2006
 * Kilroy Silk in January 2004
 * Clare Short in May 2003
 * Clare Short's future in April 2003
 * Page 3 Girls in January 2003
 * Housing policy in April 2002
 * Budget in March 2001
 * Pensions in May 2009

title: Lynne Jones


text:
Plesiosauroidea

Plesiosauroidea (Greek: πλησιος plēsios 'near, close to' and σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is an extinct clade of carnivorous marine reptiles. They have the snake-like longest neck to body ratio of any reptile. Plesiosauroids are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. After their discovery, some plesiosauroids were said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell.

Plesiosauroidea appeared at the Early Jurassic Period (late Sinemurian stage) and thrived until the K-Pg extinction, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The oldest confirmed plesiosauroid is Plesiosaurus itself, as all younger taxa were recently found to be pliosauroids. While they were Mesozoic diapsid reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs, they did not belong to the latter. Gastroliths are frequently found associated with plesiosaurs.

History of discovery
The first complete plesiosauroid skeletons were found in England by Mary Anning, in the early 19th century, and were amongst the first fossil vertebrates to be described by science. Plesiosauroid remains were found by the Scottish geologist Hugh Miller in 1844 in the rocks of the Great Estuarine Group (then known as 'Series') of western Scotland. Many others have been found, some of them virtually complete, and new discoveries are made frequently. One of the finest specimens was found in 2002 on the coast of Somerset (England) by someone fishing from the shore. This specimen, called the Collard specimen after its finder, was on display in Taunton Museum in 2007. Another, less complete, skeleton was also found in 2002, in the cliffs at Filey, Yorkshire, England, by an amateur palaeontologist. The preserved skeleton is displayed at Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.

Description
Plesiosauroids had a broad body and a short tail. They retained their ancestral two pairs of limbs, which evolved into large flippers.

It has been determined by teeth records that several sea-dwelling reptiles, including plesiosauroids, had a warm-blooded metabolism similar to that of mammals. They could generate endothermic heat to survive in colder habitats.

Evolution
Plesiosauroids evolved from earlier, similar forms such as pistosaurs. There are a number of families of plesiosauroids, which retain the same general appearance and are distinguished by various specific details. These include the Plesiosauridae, unspecialized types which are limited to the Early Jurassic period; Cryptoclididae, (e.g. Cryptoclidus), with a medium-long neck and somewhat stocky build; Elasmosauridae, with very long, flexible necks and tiny heads; and the Cimoliasauridae, a poorly known group of small Cretaceous forms. According to traditional classifications, all plesiosauroids have a small head and long neck but, in recent classifications, one short-necked and large-headed Cretaceous group, the Polycotylidae, are included under the Plesiosauroidea, rather than under the traditional Pliosauroidea. Size of different plesiosaurs varied significantly, with an estimated length of Trinacromerum being three meters and Mauisaurus growing to twenty meters.

Relationships
The following cladogram follows an analysis by Benson & Druckenmiller (2014).

Behavior
Unlike their pliosauroid cousins, plesiosauroids (with the exception of the Polycotylidae) were probably slow swimmers. It is likely that they cruised slowly below the surface of the water, using their long flexible neck to move their head into position to snap up unwary fish or cephalopods. Their four-flippered swimming adaptation may have given them exceptional maneuverability, so that they could swiftly rotate their bodies as an aid to catching prey.

Contrary to many reconstructions of plesiosauroids, it would have been impossible for them to lift their head and long neck above the surface, in the "swan-like" pose that is often shown. Even if they had been able to bend their necks upward to that degree (which they could not), gravity would have tipped their body forward and kept most of the heavy neck in the water.

On 12 August 2011, researchers from the U.S. described a fossil of a pregnant plesiosaur found on a Kansas ranch in 1987. The plesiosauroid, Polycotylus latippinus, has confirmed that these predatory marine reptiles gave birth to single, large, live offspring—contrary to other marine reptile reproduction which typically involves a large number of small babies. Before this study, plesiosauroids had sometimes been portrayed crawling out of water to lay eggs in the manner of sea turtles, but experts had long suspected that their anatomy was not compatible with movement on land. The adult plesiosaur measures 4 m long and the juvenile is 1.5 m long.

title: Plesiosauroidea


text:
Bull Ring, Birmingham

The Bull Ring is a major shopping area in central Birmingham England, and has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first held. Two shopping centres have been built in the area; in the 1960s, and then in 2003; the latter is styled as one word, Bullring. When coupled with Grand Central (to which it is connected via a pedestrian overpass, branded as 'LinkStreet') it forms the United Kingdom's largest city centre based shopping centre, styled as Bullring & Grand Central.

The site is located on the edge of the sandstone city ridge which results in the steep gradient towards Digbeth. The slope drops approximately 15 m from New Street to St Martin's Church and is visible near the church.

The current shopping centre was the busiest in the United Kingdom in 2004 with 36.5 million visitors. It houses one of only four Selfridges department stores and previously the fourth largest Debenhams in the UK.

Toponym
The area was first known as Corn Cheaping, a reference to the corn market on the site. The name Bull Ring referred to the green within Corn Cheaping that was used for bull-baiting. The 'ring' was a hoop of iron in Corn Cheaping to which bulls were tied for baiting before slaughter. The joining of the two words in the 21st-century development of the area to form Bullring caused controversy amongst some residents and others who were angry at the change of what was described as a "historic spelling".

History

The market legally began in 1154 when Peter de Bermingham, a local landowner, obtained a Charter of Marketing Rights from King Henry II. Initially, a textile trade began developing in the area and it was first mentioned in 1232 in a document, in which one merchant is described as a business partner to William de Bermingham and being in the ownership of four weavers, a smith, a tailor and a purveyor. Seven years later, another document described another mercer in the area. Within the next ten years, the area developed into a leading market town and a major cloth trade was established.

The name Mercer Street is first mentioned in the Survey of Birmingham of 1553. This was a result of the prominence of the area in the cloth trade. In the 16th century and 17th century, Mercer Street rapidly developed and became cramped. In the early 18th century Mercer Street was known as Spicer Street, reflecting the growing grocery and meat trade that had begun to take over from the cloth trade. By the end of the century the street was known as Spiceal Street. Despite being overcrowded and cramped, many houses on the street had gardens as indicated by an advertisement for a residential property in 1798. Houses were constructed close to St Martin's Church, eventually encircling it. These became known as the Roundabout Houses. On a map produced by Westley in 1731, other markets had developed nearby including food, cattle and corn markets with other markets located nearby on the High Street. This corn market was moved to the Corn Exchange on Carrs Lane in 1848. The Bull Ring developed into the main retail market area for Birmingham as the town grew into a modern industrial city.

The earliest known building for public meetings in the town with any architectural record is the High Cross, which stood within the Bull Ring. The last known construction work was in 1703; it was demolished in 1784. The cross was also known as the Old Cross, to distinguish it from the Welch Cross, and was also nicknamed the Butter Cross due to farmwives selling dairy produce beneath its arches.

A series of events in Birmingham's political history saw the area become a popular meeting place for demonstrations and speeches from leaders of working class movements during the 1830s and 1840s.

Bull Ring Riots, 1839
In 1839, the Bull Ring was the location of the Bull Ring Riots. The first riot occurred on 4 July, 1839, after Mayor William Scholefield had read the Riot Act before a meeting of Chartists and then deployed 60 officers of the Metropolitan Police when they failed to disperse. There was widespread vandalism and destruction of property. The riots prompted fears amongst the town's residents at the council's inability to prevent or control the riots and led to speculation that the council was tolerant of lawlessness. Because of disorderly behaviour at fairs, in 1861 the area, along with Smithfield and Digbeth, became the only place in central Birmingham where fairs were permitted. In 1875, all fairs were banned from the town.

The area around the market site developed and, by the Victorian era, a large number of shops were operating there. Immigrants set up businesses such as flower-sellers and umbrella vendors. The Lord Nelson statue became the location for preaching and political protests. Well-known preachers of the time were nicknamed Holy Joe and Jimmy Jesus.

Markets in the Bull Ring
In the late 18th century, street commissioners were authorised to buy and demolish houses in the town centre, including houses surrounding the Bull Ring, and to centre all market activity in the area. This was a result of new markets being established across the city in scattered locations creating severe congestion. Demolition of these properties began slowly; however, after the Act of 1801, the speed of demolition increased and by 1810 all properties in the area had been cleared as according to the 1810 Map of Birmingham by Kempson. During the clearance, small streets such as The Shambles, Cock (or Well) Street and Corn Cheaping, which had existed before the Bull Ring, were removed. The Shambles was originally a row of butchers' stores, situated close to the road leading from the location where bulls were slaughtered.

A wide area fronting St Martin's Church formed the marketplace. The Street Commissioners decided that a sheltered market hall was needed. They bought the market rights from the lord of the manor and, by 1832, all properties on site had been purchased, with exception of two, whose owners demanded a higher price. To fund the purchase of these properties, two buildings were constructed either side of the market hall and the leases sold at auction. Construction of the Market Hall, designed by Charles Edge (an architect of Birmingham Town Hall), began in February 1833. It was completed by Dewsbury and Walthews at a cost of £20,000 (£44,800 if the price of acquiring the land is included) and opened on 12 February 1835 and contained 600 market stalls.

In 1869, the fish market was completed on the site of the Nelson Hotel (formerly the Dog Inn). The Dog Inn was located at the top end of Spiceal Street and the land above was owned by the Cowper family. The fish market was built upon Cowper Street, named after the family, on Summer Lane. In 1884, a sheltered vegetable market in Jamaica Row was also completed.

The trade of horses prospered in the area with over 3,000 horses for sale at its peak during the 1880s. However this fell into rapid decline; the last horse trading fair took place in 1911 with only eleven horses and one donkey in attendance.

A large amount of the area survived World War II; however, nearby New Street was heavily bombed. Shops sold tax-free products to encourage shoppers to buy them as it was difficult for the public to buy goods even a decade after the end of the war. Woolworths set up on Spiceal Street in the Bull Ring and became a popular shop, becoming the largest store on the street. The old Market Hall was gutted on 25 August 1940 by an incendiary attack, and remained as an empty shell, used for small exhibitions and open markets. No repair work was conducted on the building and the arches that housed the windows were bricked up.

Archaeology on the site
As the redevelopment of 2000 began, archaeological excavations were conducted on the site. Finds dated back to the 12th century; a ditch was discovered where the Selfridges store and Park Street car park are now situated. Archaeologists discovered that this was a boundary separating houses from a deer park in an area now occupied by Moor Street station. Rubbish discovered in the ditch was found to include fragments of misfired pottery with criss-cross patterns, indicating that pottery kilns had been located there in the 13th century. Many leather tanning pits dating to the 17th and 18th centuries were found on the Park Street car park site. These contained fragments of crucibles, pottery vessels in which metal was melted. The residues in these were alloys of copper with zinc, lead and tin. On the site where the Indoor Markets are now located, archaeologists discovered further leather tanning pits, these dating from the 13th century.

Burials had also been discovered in the churchyard of St Martin's dating to the 18th and 19th century. Records of families were used to identify the bodies.

Four information panels providing information on the discoveries and history of the site are in the Bull Ring at St Martin's Square, Edgbaston Street, Park Street and High Street.

The first Birmingham Bull Ring Centre
In 1955, shops began to close down as the redevelopment of the area was proposed. Plans drawn up showed the creation of new roads and the demolition of old ones and all the buildings on the proposed site. Eleven companies submitted plans for the new Bull Ring however, Birmingham City Council elected to go for the proposals submitted by John Laing & Sons which used substantial material from designs by James A. Roberts. Demolition began in the late-1950s beginning with the demolition of the old fish market. Construction commenced in the summer of 1961.

The outdoor market area was opened in June 1962 with 150 stalls within the new Bull Ring, which was still under construction.

In 1964, construction of the Birmingham Bull Ring Centre neared completion. It was a mixture of traditional open-air market stalls and a new indoor shopping centre, the first indoor city-centre shopping centre in the UK. It was opened by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh alongside Alderman Frank Price and Sir Herbert Manzoni on 29 May 1964 and had cost an estimated £8 million. The shopping centre covered 23 acre and had 350000 sqft of retail trade area. Shortly after opening, the complex was visited by Queen Elizabeth II.

On the lower level of the shopping centre was the Bull Ring Bus Station which was used mostly by Midland Red and its successors. Midland Red West operated a travel centre there until closure of the bus station.

The market area was submerged and had approximately 150 stalls with the majority selling food. It was split by a large road which connected to the inner ring road which was built from 1967 till 1971. There was direct access to New Street station and the market area could be easily accessed from Moor Street station. A multi-storey car park was also located within the complex with 500 spaces for cars. Access to roads by foot could be achieved through a network of subways. As part of the development, a nine-storey office block designed by James A. Roberts was built. This was attached to the multi-storey car park. The floors were of reinforced concrete, 12 inches in thickness. A bold illuminated sign by D.R.U. was located on the end wall, facing the city centre.

Jamaica Row and Spiceal Street had been demolished and removed during the development, being replaced by a submerged market area.

There were 140 shop units located on 350000 sqft of room on a 4 acre site. There were also 19 escalators, 40 lifts, 96 public doors, six miles (10 km) of air ducting and 33 mi of pipe work. The shopping centre was air conditioned and had music played to create an intimate atmosphere within the building.

The remains of old Market Hall were demolished in 1963 and replaced by Manzoni Gardens; an open space designed for shoppers to relax. In the 1970s a statue of King Kong stood there.

A mural of a bull was located on the side of the building as visitors entered via the road splitting the market area.

The 1960s' Bull Ring Centre had problems from the beginning and was very much a product of its era. At the time of its opening it was considered the height of modernity, but higher rentals within the shopping centre meant that traders turned away from it. The public were also less inclined to use the subways and escalators, which stopped working regularly. Also, it did not age well and soon became generally regarded as an unfortunate example of 1960s Brutalist architecture, with its boxy grey concrete design and its isolation within ringroads connected only by pedestrian subways. It was, by the 1980s, much disliked by the public and contributed to the popular conception that Birmingham was a concrete jungle of shopping centres and motorways.

In 2015, Historic England included the four bull ring murals, designed by Trewin Copplestone, which decorated the outside walls of the shopping centre, in a list of public works that have been lost, sold, stolen or destroyed.

Early proposals
Plans for redevelopments began in the 1980s, with many being just visions. In 1987, the first serious plans were released under a document called "The People's Plan" which had been designed by Chapman Taylor Architects for London and Edinburgh Trust (LET), who had bought the land following the end of Laing's lease. It proposed the full demolition of the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and the construction of a new mall described as "a huge aircraft-carrier settled on the streetscape of the city". The mall was a 500 m long box with three floors.

A pressure group called Birmingham for People was formed who wanted to aid the redevelopment of the Bull Ring. They distributed leaflets of the proposals to 44,000 homes in the city. However, as a result of local opinion, LET were forced to change their proposals.

In 1988, in response to the calls for a new design, LET released a masterplan of numerous buildings with a wide pedestrianised street leading to St Martin's Church. As part of the design, two high rise buildings of a similar height to the Rotunda were proposed to front New Street station and Moor Street station. However, lack of local support failed to allow the plans to materialise.

In 1995, LET again amended their designs through work with the public. However, a retail recession meant that the plans could not begin construction and they never developed.

Successful proposal

After the failure of the LET plan, new plans began to surface. In the mid-1990s, another serious proposal was produced and this gained support resulting in the publication of a masterplan. However, soon after the publication of the masterplan, changes were made to the design. In 1998, Selfridges voiced reservations about opening a store in Birmingham due to restrictions on doing so and considered opening a store in Glasgow instead. It was an important part of the planned Redevelopment of Birmingham.

Construction and opening
The successful proposal received planning permission and demolition of the 1960s Bull Ring Shopping Centre commenced in 2000 with the traders moving to the Rag Market in Edgbaston Street. It was replaced by a new design, mixing both traditional market activity with modern retail units. The main contractor was Sir Robert McAlpine. The structural engineer was Waterman Group. The first building to be completed was the Nationwide Building Society which, while not directly connected to the shopping centre, was part of the development. A new indoor shopping centre, "Bullring" (as the commercial entity is branded) opened on 4 September 2003.

Because a major road and two railway tunnels ran under the northern edge of the site, two levels of retail areas are dramatically suspended from four 45m arched steel trusses, each weighing 120 tonnes, which are supported on piles either side of the railway tunnels.

The first week of trading saw the new shopping centre under considerable pressure due to the large crowds it attracted. On 4 September 2003, the day of opening, some 276,600 people visited the shopping centre.

Design and layout
Bullring Shopping Centre was masterplanned and designed mainly by Benoy. The shopping centre consists of two main buildings (East and West Mall) which are connected by an underground passage lined with shops and is also accessible from St Martin's Square via glass doors. They are sheltered by a glass roof known as the SkyPlane which covers 7000 m2 and appears to have no visible means of support. The two malls are different internally in design. The balustrades in the East Mall consist of integrated glass 'jewels' within the metal framework, and are of different colours formed through polyester powder coating. It features a dramatic landmark building, housing a branch of Selfridges department store to a design by the Future Systems architectural practice. The store is clad in 15,000 shiny aluminium discs and was inspired by a Paco Rabanne sequinned dress. The Selfridges store cost £60 million and the contractor was Laing O'Rourke. Covering an area of 25000 m2, the designs for the Selfridges store were first unveiled in 1999, not long before demolition of the original shopping centre began. The Selfridges store has won eight awards including the RIBA Award for Architecture 2004 and Destination of the Year Retail Week Awards 2004.

There is a multi-storey car park opposite Selfridges on Park Street which is connected to the Selfridges store via a 37-metre long, curved, polycarbonate-covered footbridge, known as the Parametric Bridge, suspended over the street. On the ground floor of the car park there is retail space which was previously a furniture showroom. In 2005, a small Costa Coffee café, designed by Marks Barfield Architects and dubbed the Spiral Café, was constructed alongside the steps leading towards to New Street from St Martin's Square. The building's shape resembled that of shell and featured a curved bronze roof with both ends covered with glass. The main contractors were Thomas Vale and the structural engineers were Price & Myers. The building form is inspired by the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci who identified natural patterns of growth found throughout the universe, from the shapes of shells and pines cones to fractal patterns within galaxies. The café was knocked down as part of the Spiceal Street redevelopment in 2011.

The entire redevelopment was accompanied by an official project magazine and then commemorated with an 'art book' style book which covered Bullring's transformation in illustration and photography. Both book and magazine were produced by specialist publisher Alma Media International on behalf of the developers.

The shopping centre's design has both its admirers and detractors. In 2008, a poll conducted in conjunction with SimCity Creator stated that Bullring was the ugliest building in the country, although the poll has been criticised.

Spiceal Street
On 6 September 2010, plans were announced for a 20000 sqft expansion with the creation of three new restaurant units totalling around 10000 sqft in St Martins Square with the existing Pizza Hut and Nandos to be extended out closer to St Martins Church and thus expanded. The new restaurants are 'Browns Bar & Brasserie' and 'Chaobaby', opening their first restaurants in Birmingham in the larger two of the units closest to Jamies Italian. The third unit, closest to Selfridges is home to 'Handmade Burger Co'. In addition to the existing Nandos, Wagamama, Pizza Hut, Jamie's Italian and 'Mount Fuiji'. this has created a hub of seven restaurants named after the traditional Spiceal Street. Construction of the part indoor, part outdoor development commenced in March 2011 and consists of a glass, wooden and aluminium exterior and "ribbon" effect roof. The award-winning Spiral Cafe that was once sited here has been relocated off-site. The new Spiceal Street opened on 24 November 2011. Since then, Jamie's Italian closed after the company went into administration in May 2019, and Handmade Burger Co would suffer the same fate 8 months later in January 2020, later to be replaced by Vietnamese Street Kitchen.

Artwork

Numerous pieces of artwork are in the grounds of the centre:

 * A 120 m2 glass mural by artist Martin Donlin faces the entrance to Birmingham New Street station.
 * Three light wands of varying height stand in Rotunda square near the entrances to both wings of Bullring. The wands sway in the wind and reflective platforms which protrude from the main carbon fibre core reflect light to create a beacon effect. At night the cores are illuminated in the colours of the shafts which are blue, green and red.
 * At the main entrance to the west building stands The Guardian, a 2.2 m bronze sculpture of a running, turning bull. It was created by Laurence Broderick and has become a very popular photographic feature for visitors to Birmingham. The statue was vandalised in 2005, requiring that it be removed for repairs, but was returned to its spot again later that year. The sculptor gave support to calls for the statue to be renamed "Brummie the Bull". However, it is more widely known as simply "The Bull". The sculpture was vandalised again in 2006.
 * Looking over St Martin's Square is the statue of Horatio Nelson. The bronze statue was the first public monument for Birmingham and was sculpted by Richard Westmacott. It is also the first figurative memorial to Lord Nelson to be erected in Great Britain (only second in the world after Montreal) and was unveiled on 25 October 1809, as part of King George III's Golden Jubilee celebrations. It was originally located on the edge of the previous Bull Ring and stood on a marble base, but this was damaged when the statue was moved in 1958 and the current Portland stone plinth dates from 1960. As part of the Bullring development, the developer agreed to restore the statue and railings, but in 2003 when the Bullring opened, there was no sign of the railings. The Birmingham Civic Society mounted a campaign to get the railings re-instated, whilst Bullring argued they were a health and safety risk and would destroy the openness of the public space. However, the railing were re-instated in September 2005 for the bi-centenary celebrations of the Battle of Trafalgar.
 * As each Christmas approaches, a silver-coloured structure is erected in St Martin's Square which resembles a stylised Christmas tree. Large chrome balls hang within the conical-shaped structure which is adorned in chrome stars. Large 3-dimensional stars hang between both buildings. Both the stars and chrome sculpture are illuminated at night.
 * On 4 June 2008, the 'Bullring Britannia', a cruise ship located outside the shopping centre in St Martin's Square, was unveiled by the shopping centre owners. Throughout the summer, events took place aboard the ship including fashion shows, Mr Sexy Legs competition and activities for children.

Rotunda
A part of the James A. Roberts design for the first Bull Ring Shopping Centre included a 12-storey circular office block. However, upon revising his design this was increased to 25 storeys. As a result of this, plans for a revolving rooftop restaurant and a cinema were dropped. This became the Rotunda and is a surviving component of the 1960s development. Due to problems during construction, the building never reached the intended height. Although never used, the revolving section remains in place due to the late decision to drop the restaurant from the plans.

The Rotunda has been converted into apartments by developers Urban Splash. Although located close to the development and constructed at the same time as the 1960s centre, it was not part of the development despite being included in the design. A poem is engraved into one of the stones in the wall of the Bullring dedicated to the Rotunda. The public space to the front of both malls facing the High Street and New Street is named Rotunda Square after the building.

title: Bull Ring, Birmingham


text:
Adolf Anderssen

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (6 July 1818 – 13 March 1879) was a German chess master. He won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862, but lost matches to Paul Morphy in 1858, and to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866. Accordingly, he is generally regarded as having been the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, and leading active player from 1862 to 1866, although the title of World Chess Champion did not yet exist.

Anderssen became the most successful tournament player in Europe, winning over half the events he entered, including the very strong Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament. He achieved most of these successes when he was over the age of 50.

Anderssen is famous today for his brilliant sacrificial attacking play, particularly in the "Immortal Game" (1851) and the "Evergreen Game" (1852). He was an important figure in the development of chess problems, driving forward the transition from the "Old School" of problem composition to the elegance and complexity of modern compositions. He was also one of the most likeable of chess masters and became an "elder statesman" of the game, to whom others turned for advice or arbitration.

Background and early life
Anderssen was born in Breslau (now called Wrocław, Poland), in the Prussian Province of Silesia, in 1818. He lived there for most of his life, sharing a house with and supporting his widowed mother and his unmarried sister. Anderssen never married. He graduated from the public gymnasium (high school) in Breslau and then attended university, where he studied mathematics and philosophy. After graduating in 1847 at the age of 29, he took a position at the Friedrichs-Gymnasium as an instructor and later as Professor of Mathematics. Anderssen lived a quiet, stable, responsible, respectable middle-class life. His career was teaching mathematics, while his hobby and passion was playing chess.

When Anderssen was nine years old, his father taught him how to play chess. Anderssen said that as a boy, he learned the strategy of the game from a copy of William Lewis' book Fifty Games between Labourdonnais and McDonnell (1835).

First steps
Anderssen first came to the attention of the chess world when he published Aufgabe für Schachspieler ("Task for chess players"), a collection of 60 chess problems, in 1842. He continued to publish problems for many years, both in magazines and as a second collection in 1852. These brought him to the attention of the "Berlin Pleiades" group, which included some of the strongest players of the time, and he played matches against some of them. Anderssen's development as a player was relatively slow, largely because he could spare neither the time nor the money to play many matches against strong players. Nevertheless, by 1846 he was able to put up a good fight against another Pleiades member, Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, who may have been the world's strongest player at the time. In 1846, he became the editor of the magazine Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft (later called Deutsche Schachzeitung) when its founder Ludwig Bledow, one of the "Berlin Pleiades", died. Anderssen held this post until 1865.

London 1851
In 1848, Anderssen drew a match with the professional player Daniel Harrwitz. On the basis of this match and his general chess reputation, he was invited to represent German chess at the first international chess tournament, to be held in London in 1851. Anderssen was reluctant to accept the invitation, as he was deterred by the travel costs. However the tournament's principal organizer, Howard Staunton, offered to pay Anderssen's travel expenses out of his own pocket if necessary, should Anderssen fail to win a tournament prize. Anderssen accepted this generous offer.

Anderssen's preparations for the 1851 London International Tournament produced a surge in his playing strength: he played over 100 games in early 1851 against strong opponents including Carl Mayet, Ernst Falkbeer, Max Lange and Jean Dufresne. The 1851 International Tournament was a knock-out event in which pairs of competitors played short matches, and Anderssen won it by beating Lionel Kieseritzky, József Szén, Staunton, and Marmaduke Wyvill – by margins of at least two games in every case. His prize was two-thirds of the total prize fund of £500, i.e. about £335; that is equivalent to about £240,000 ($370,200) in 2006's money. When Anderssen and Szén found they were to play each other, they agreed that, if either won the tournament, the other would receive one-third of the prize; this does not appear to have been considered in any way unethical.

Although most chess books regard Wilhelm Steinitz as the first true world champion, one of the organizers of the 1851 London International Tournament had said the contest was for "the baton of the World's Chess Champion". In fact Anderssen was not described as "the world champion", but the tournament established Anderssen as the world's leading chess player. The London Chess Club, which had fallen out with Staunton and his colleagues, organized a tournament that was played a month later and included several players who had competed in the International Tournament. The result was the same – Anderssen won.

Morphy match, 1858
Opportunities for tournament play remained rare, and Anderssen was reluctant to travel far because of the expense. In his one recorded tournament between 1851 and 1862, a one-game-per-round knock-out tournament at Manchester in 1857, he was eliminated in the second round. Then in late 1858, he was beaten 8–3 by the American champion Paul Morphy in a famous match held in Paris, France (two wins, two draws, seven losses). Although Anderssen knew as well as anyone how to attack, Morphy understood much better when to attack and how to prepare an attack. Morphy had recently scored equally convincing wins in matches against other top-class players: Johann Löwenthal, the Rev. John Owen and Daniel Harrwitz. Morphy returned to the United States in 1859 and soon afterwards announced his retirement from serious chess, however, making Anderssen once again the strongest active player.

Anderssen played the curious opening move 1.a3 in three games of his match against Morphy, and broke even with it (one loss, one draw, one win). This opening move, now referred to as "Anderssen's Opening", has never been popular in serious competition.

Other games 1851–1862
Shortly after the 1851 London International Tournament, Anderssen played his two most famous games, both casual encounters which he won by combinations that involved several sacrifices. In the first, as White against Lionel Kieseritzky in London on 21 June 1851, just after the International Tournament (1851) and now called the "Immortal Game", he sacrificed a bishop, both rooks and finally his queen. In the second, played in Berlin in 1852 as White against Jean Dufresne and now called the "Evergreen Game", the total sacrifice was more modest, but still exceeded a queen and a minor piece.

After the match with Morphy, Anderssen played two matches against Ignác Kolisch, one of the leading players of the time, who later became a wealthy banker and patron of chess. Anderssen drew their match in 1860 and narrowly won in 1861 (5/9; won four, drew two, lost three; Kolisch was ahead at the half-way stage).

London 1862
Anderssen won the London 1862 chess tournament, the first international round-robin tournament (in which each participant plays a game against each of the others) with a score of twelve wins out of thirteen games. He lost only one game, to the Rev. John Owen and finished two points ahead of Louis Paulsen, who had the best playing record in the early 1860s. Morphy had retired from chess at this time, so Anderssen was again generally regarded as the world's leading active player.

Shortly after the tournament, he played a match against tournament runner-up Paulsen, ending in a draw (3 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws). In 1864, he drew another match (3 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws) against Berthold Suhle, who was a strong player and respected chess writer.

Steinitz match, 1866

In 1866, Anderssen lost a close match with 30-year-old Wilhelm Steinitz (six wins, eight losses, and no draws; Steinitz won the last two games). Although Steinitz is now known for inventing the positional approach to chess and demonstrating its superiority, the 1866 match was played in the attack-at-all-costs style of the 1850s and 1860s. This is generally seen as the point at which Steinitz succeeded Anderssen as the world's leading active player. Although ideas of a contest for the world championship had been floating around since the 1840s, the 1866 Anderssen–Steinitz match was not defined as being for the world championship, and many were opposed to the claim of such a title while Morphy was retired from chess and still alive. Furthermore, Anderssen remained dominant both in top tournaments and in personal matches against Zukertort until 1871.

1866–1879
By this time tournaments were becoming more frequent, and the round-robin format was adopted. At the same time, Anderssen, after losing the match to Morphy in 1858 and to Steinitz in 1866, re-dedicated himself to chess, particularly studying both endgames and positional play. The result was that Anderssen, in his early fifties, was playing the finest chess of his career. As a result, Anderssen compiled a very successful tournament record in the late stages of his career: five first places, two second places, two third places; and a sixth place in the final year of his life, when his health was failing. One of his first places was ahead of Steinitz, Gustav Neumann, Joseph Henry Blackburne, Louis Paulsen and several other very strong players at the Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament. In terms of the number of leading players present, this could be regarded as one of the top 20 tournaments ever. One of Anderssen's third places was at the strong Vienna 1873 tournament, when he was 55. About half of Anderssen's tournament successes came at championships of the different regional German Chess Federations; but these were open to all nationalities, and most of them had a few "top ten" or even "top five" competitors. Anderssen usually beat Zukertort in matches, but his dominance came to an end in 1871.

The Leipzig 1877 tournament was organized in his honour and named the "Anderssen-Feier" (Anderssen Celebration); Anderssen finished second in the tournament behind Louis Paulsen.

Still at Leipzig, Anderssen lost a match against tournament winner Louis Paulsen (three wins, one draw, and five losses). Matches were Anderssen's relative weakness; his only match win in this period was in 1868, against the 26-year-old Johann Zukertort (eight wins, one draw, and three losses).

Playing strength and style
Anderssen was very successful in European tournaments from 1851 to early 1878, taking first prize in over half of the events in which he played. His only recorded tournament failures were a one-game-per-round knock-out event in 1857 and sixth place at Paris 1878 when his health was failing and he had only about a year to live. His match record was much weaker: out of the 12 that he played, he won only two, drew four and lost six.

Though outclassed by Morphy, and to a lesser extent by Steinitz, Anderssen has been called the first modern chess master.

Arpad Elo, inventor of the Elo rating system, retroactively calculated ratings through history, and estimated that Anderssen was the first player with a rating over 2600. Chessmetrics ranks Anderssen as one of the top two players for most of the period from 1859 to 1873, and as the strongest player in the world seven months distributed between 1860 and 1870.

Steinitz rated Anderssen as one of the two greatest attacking players of his time: "We all may learn from Morphy and Anderssen how to conduct a king's-side attack, and perhaps I myself may not have learnt enough." Although Anderssen is regarded as a member of the "heroic" attacking school, he was not in favor of mindless aggression, for example he said: "Move that one of your pieces, which is in the worst plight, unless you can satisfy yourself that you can derive immediate advantage by an attack", a principle more recently labelled "Makogonov's rule". According to Fine, his approach to development was haphazard and he totally failed to understand why Morphy won.

Anderssen's home town was so proud of him that in 1865 Breslau University awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Influence on chess

Due to the perceived beauty of its attacking style, some of Anderssen's games, such as the Immortal Game and the Evergreen Game, are among the most famous in chess history.

The "heroic" attacking school of play to which Anderssen belonged was eclipsed by Steinitz' positional approach – by 1894 it was generally acknowledged that the only way to beat Steinitz was to apply Steinitz' principles.

Anderssen has had a more enduring influence on chess problem composition. He started composing in the last years of the "Old School", whose compositions were fairly similar to realistic over-the-board positions and featured spectacular "key" moves, multiple sacrifices and few variations. He was one of the most skillful composers of his time, and his work forms an early stage of the "Transition Period", between the mid-1840s and the early 1860s, when many of the basic problem ideas were discovered, the requirement for game-like positions was abandoned and the introduction of composing competitions (the first of which was in 1854) forced judges to decide on what features were the most desirable in a problem.

Outside the field of chess problems Anderssen was not a prolific author. However he edited the magazine Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft (later called Deutsche Schachzeitung) from 1846 to 1865, and was co-editor with Gustav Neumann of Neue Berliner Schachzeitung from 1864 to 1867.

Personality
Steinitz wrote: "Anderssen was honest and honourable to the core. Without fear or favour he straightforwardly gave his opinion, and his sincere disinterestedness became so patent....that his word alone was usually sufficient to quell disputes...for he had often given his decision in favour of a rival..." On the other hand, Reuben Fine, a 20th-century player, wrote, "There is a curious contrast between his over-the-board brilliance and his uninspired safety-first attitude in everyday affairs."

Death
Anderssen died on 13 March 1879, in his home town. The Deutsche Schachzeitung noted his death in 1879 with a nineteen-page obituary. His cause of death was a heart attack. Bombing raids during World War II damaged his grave in Breslau. After the war, the city became part of Poland and is now known under its Polish name Wrocław. In 1957, the Polish Chess Federation decided to re-bury Anderssen in a new grave at the Osobowice Cemetery.

Tournament results
Sources:

Match results
Sources:

title: Adolf Anderssen


text:
Future Systems

Future Systems was a London-based architectural and design practice, formerly headed by Directors Jan Kaplický and Amanda Levete.

Future Systems was founded by Kaplický and David Nixon after working with Denys Lasdun, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, and Richard Rogers in 1979. The work of Future Systems can be classified within the British high-tech architects as either bionic architecture or amorphous, organic shapes sometimes referred to as "blobitecture". "Compared to his peers, Kaplicky was the avant-garde incarnate, relentlessly pursuing the new new thing, refusing to settle into some predictable, and comfortable, architectural niche."

Practice
Future Systems proposals adapted construction methods from other professions, including (most commonly) the curved monocoque shell structures found in aircraft design, car design and boat building.

In the 1990s the company moved from theoretical projects to fee-paying work with projects such as the "spacecraft-like" Media Centre at Lord's Cricket Ground in London (completed 1999), and the Selfridges Building (completed 2003). For Lord's, Kaplicky received the Stirling Prize. The Selfridges department store is a prime example of the early 21st century movement referred to as "blobitecture", and has been compared to Peter Cook's Kunsthaus in Graz, Austria.

After Future Systems won the Stirling Prize, the firm received larger commissions including the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, Italy (2009) and the unbuilt new Czech National Library. In 2008 Kaplický and Levete split the firm. Kaplický took the firm name and some staff to the Czech republic, and Levete would take a proposed new headquarters for News Corporation in east London and a commission for a hotel and retail complex in Bangkok, Thailand, along with most of the staff – between 35 and 45 people.

History
1979 Founded by Jan Kaplicky and David Nixon while working at Foster Associates.

1989 Joined by Amanda Levete who arrives from Richard Rogers & Partners to become a partner.

1994 Completed the well received Hauer-King house in Canonbury, Islington, London.

1999 Won the Stirling Prize for Lord's Cricket Ground media centre.

2003 Completed the Selfridges building at the regenerated Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham.

2007 Won the commission for the controversial Czech National Library.

2008 Split into two practices after Kaplicky and Levete officially separate as business partners.

2008 Submits design of London Routemaster bus.

2008 Czech National Library project cancelled by Prague authorities.

2009 Jan Kaplický dies on 14 January 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic. A month later the final few staff working for Kaplický/Future Systems in Levete's offices were let go.

Articles

 * "Interview with Jan Kaplicky-Future Systems" by Alessandra Orlandoni- The Plan 008 January 2005
 * Article on the architecture of the new Bull Ring shopping centre
 * Article on the architecture of the new Bull Ring shopping centre

title: Future Systems