Official name	Oslo
Pushpin map	Norway
Image shield	Oslo komm.svg
Shield size	150px
Dot map caption	Location of Oslo in Norway
Coordinates region	NO
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Norway
Subdivision type1	District
Subdivision name1	Østlandet
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Oslo
Subdivision type3	Municipality
Subdivision name3	Oslo
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Fabian Stang (H)
Leader title1	Governing mayor
Leader name1	Stian Berger Røsland (H)
Established title	Established
Established date	1048
Area total km2	454.03
Area urban km2	285.26
Area metro km2	8900
Population as of	2011
Population total	605005
Population density km2	auto
Population metro	1442318
Population density metro km2	auto
Population urban	912046
Population density urban km2	auto
demographics type1	Ethnic groups
demographics1 footnotes
demographics1 title1	Norwegians
demographics1 info1	71.5%
demographics1 title2	Pakistanis
demographics1 info2	3.6%
demographics1 title3	Somalis
demographics1 info3	2.0%
demographics1 title4	Swedes
demographics1 info4	2.0%
demographics1 title5	Poles
demographics1 info5	1.7%
Timezone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Timezone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Postal code	0301
Website
Motto	Unanimiter et constanter (Latin: ''United and constant'') }}

Oslo (, , or ) is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality (''formannskapsdistrikt''), it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King Christian IV. It was rebuilt closer to Akershus Fortress, as Christiania (also spelt Kristiania in late 1800's). In 1925, the city reclaimed its original Norwegian name, Oslo. The diocese of Oslo is one of the five original dioceses in Norway, which originated around the year 1070.

Oslo is the cultural, scientific, economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are amongst the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

Oslo is considered a global city and ranked "Beta World City" in studies performed by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. For several years, Oslo has been listed as one of the most expensive cities in the world along with such other global cities, as Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen, Paris, and Tokyo. In 2009, however, Oslo regained its status as the world's most expensive city. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo 2nd after Tokyo.

As of 2010, the metropolitan area of Oslo has a population of 1,442,318 of whom 912,046 live in the contiguous conurbation. The population currently increases at a record rate of 1.64% annually, making it the fastest growing city in Europe. This growth stems from immigration, as the Norwegian population in the city is decreasing. The immigrant share of the population in the city proper now counts more than 25% of the city's total.

Urban region

The population of the municipality of Oslo is 605,318 as of 1 Apr. 2011. The urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality into the surrounding county of Akershus, (municipalities of Bærum, Asker, Røyken, Lørenskog, Skedsmo, Gjerdrum, Sørum, Oppegård) its agglomeration total 912,046 inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Oslo, also referred to as the Greater Oslo Region (), has a land area of with a population of 1,422,442 as of 1 Apr. 2010. The Inner Oslo Fjord Region, or the Capital Region made up by the 5 counties of Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Vestfold (west bank of the Oslo fjord) and Østfold (east bank) has a population of 1,908,231 people (01.10.2010). The city centre is situated at the end of the Oslofjord, from which point the city sprawls out in three distinct "corridors" from its centre; inland north-eastwards and southwards along both sides of the fjord giving the city area more or less the shape of a reclining "Y" when seen from the north. To the north and east, wide forested hills (''Marka'') rise above the city giving the location the shape of a giant amphitheatre. The urban municipality (''bykommune'') of Oslo and county of Oslo (''fylke'') are two parts of the same entity, making Oslo the only city in Norway where two administrative levels are integrated. Of Oslo's total area, is built-up and is agricultural. The open areas within the built-up zone amount to .

The city of Oslo was established as a municipality on 3 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was separated from the county of Akershus to become a county of its own in 1842. The rural municipality of Aker was merged with Oslo on 1 January 1948 (and simultaneously transferred from Akershus county to Oslo county). Furthermore, Oslo shares several important functions with Akershus county. The neighbouring industrial commune of Aker was incorporated into Oslo in 1948.

General information

Toponymy

The origin of the name ''Oslo'' has been the subject of much debate. While certainly derived from Old Norse, it was in all probability originally the name of a large farm at the site of the first settlements in Bjørvika.

Most modern linguists lean toward an interpretation of "Oslo/Åslo" as either "the meadow at the foot of the hill", with the name serving a topographical description, or the possibility of the name referring to an ancient site of worship in "the meadow consecrated to the gods". Both interpretations are considered equally likely.

Erroneously, it was once assumed that Oslo meant "the mouth of the Lo river", referring to another name of the river Alna. This apocryphal story is not only ungrammatical (the correct form would be ''Loaros'', cf. Nidaros), but the name ''Lo'' is not recorded anywhere before Peder Claussøn Friis first used it in the same work in which he proposed this etymology. The name ''Lo'' is now believed to be a back-formation arrived at by Friis in support of his spurious etymology for ''Oslo''.

City seal

Oslo is one of very few cities in Norway, besides Bergen and Tønsberg, that does not have a formal coat-of-arms, but which uses a city seal instead. The seal of Oslo shows the city's patron saint, St. Hallvard, with his attributes, the millstone and arrows, with a naked woman at his feet. He is seated on a throne with lion decorations, which at the time was also commonly used by the Norwegian Kings.

History

According to the Norse sagas, Oslo was founded around 1049 by King Harald Hardråde. Recent archaeological research has uncovered Christian burials which can be dated to prior to 1000 CE, evidence of a preceding urban settlement. This called for the celebration of Oslo's millennium in 2000.

It has been regarded as the capital city since the reign of King Håkon V (1299–1319), the first king to reside permanently in the city. He also started the construction of the Akershus Fortress. A century later, Norway was the weaker part in a personal union with Denmark, and Oslo's role was reduced to that of provincial administrative centre, with the monarchs residing in Copenhagen. The fact that the University of Oslo was founded as late as 1811 had an adverse effect on the development of the nation.

Oslo was destroyed several times by fire, and after the fourteenth calamity, in 1624, King Christian IV of Denmark (and Norway) ordered it rebuilt at a new site across the bay, near Akershus Fortress and given the name ''Christiania''. Long before this, Christiania had started to establish its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The part of the city built starting in 1624 is now often called ''Kvadraturen'' because of its orthogonal layout. The last plague outbreak ravaged Oslo in 1654. In 1814 Christiania once more became a real capital when the union with Denmark was dissolved.

Many landmarks were built in the 19th century, including the Royal Palace (1825–1848); Stortinget (the Parliament) (1861–1866), the University, Nationaltheatret and the Stock Exchange. Among the world-famous artists who lived here during this period were Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun (the latter was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature). In 1850, Christiania also overtook Bergen and became the most populous city in the country. In 1877 the city was renamed ''Kristiania''. The original name of Oslo was restored in 1925.

1000–1700

Under the reign of King Olav Kyrre, Oslo became a cultural centre for Eastern Norway. St. Hallvard became the city's patron saint and is depicted on the city's seal.

In 1174, Hovedøya Abbey (''Hovedøya kloster'') was built. The churches and abbeys became major owners of large tracts of land, which proved important for the city's economic development, especially before the Black Death.

During the Middle Ages, Oslo reached its heights in the reign of King Håkon V. He started the building of Akershus Fortress and was also the first king to reside permanently in the city, which helped to make Oslo the capital of Norway.

In the end of the 12th century, Hanseatic traders from Rostock moved into the city and gained major influence in the city. The Black Death came to Norway in 1349 and, like other cities in Europe, the city suffered greatly. The churches' earnings from their land also dropped so much that the Hanseatic traders dominated the city's foreign trade in the 15th century.

Over the years, fire destroyed major parts of the city many times, as many of the city's buildings were built entirely of wood. After the last fire in 1624, which lasted for three days, King Christian IV decided that the old city should not be rebuilt again. His men built a network of roads in Akershagen near Akershus Castle. He demanded that all citizens should move their shops and workplaces to the newly built city of Christiania.

The transformation of the city went slowly for the first hundred years. Outside the city, near Vaterland and Grønland near Gamle Oslo a new, unmanaged part of the city grew up with citizens of low status.

1700s

In the 18th century, after the Great Northern War, the city's economy boomed with shipbuilding and trade. The strong economy transformed Christiania into a trading port.

1800s

In the 19th century, several state institutions were established and the city's role as a capital intensified. Christiania expanded its industry from 1840, most importantly around Akerselva. The expansion prompted the authorities to construct several important buildings, most of which remain as tourist attractions. There was a brief building boom from 1880, with many new houses, but the boom collapsed in 1889.

1900–present

Auctioning off of children was prohibited by law (''Fattigloven'') in 1900, as a result of court cases related to children having died/been killed.

The ''kommune'' developed new areas such as Ullevål Hageby(1918–1926) and Torshov (1917–1925). City Hall was constructed in the former slum area of Vika, from 1931–1950. The municipality of Aker was incorporated into Oslo in 1948, and suburbs were developed, such as Lambertseter (from 1951). Aker Brygge was constructed on the site of the former shipyard Akers Mekaniske Verksted, from 1982–1998.

On 22 July 2011, Oslo was hit by a bomb blast that ripped through the city central government district, also damaging Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office while he was absent and the nearby Ministry of Petroleum. The terrorist blast killed at least eight people prior to a shooting spree on the island of Utøya on lake Tyrifjorden, which killed at least 68 youths participating in a Norwegian Labour Party youth camp. The suspect is Anders Behring Breivik.

Geography

Oslo occupies an arc of land at the northernmost end of the Oslofjord. The fjord, which is nearly bisected by the Nesodden peninsula opposite Oslo, lies to the south; in all other directions Oslo is surrounded by green hills and mountains. There are 40 islands within the city limits, the largest being Malmøya (), and scores more around the Oslofjord. Oslo has 343 lakes, the largest being Maridalsvannet (). This is also a main source of drinking water for large parts of Oslo.

Although Eastern Norway has a number of rivers, none of these flow into the ocean at Oslo. Instead Oslo has two smaller rivers: Akerselva (draining Maridalsvannet, which flows into the fjord in Bjørvika), and Alna. The waterfalls in Akerselva gave power to the first modern industry of Norway in the 1840, and later in the century, the river became the symbol of the stable and consistent economic and social divide of the city into an East End and a West End; the labourers' neighbourhoods lie on both sides of the river, and the divide in reality follows Uelands street a bit further west. River Alna flows through Groruddalen, Oslo's major suburb and industrial area. The highest point is Kirkeberget, at . Although the city's population is small compared to most European capitals, it occupies an unusually large land area, of which two thirds are protected areas of forests, hills and lakes. Its boundaries encompass many parks and open areas, giving it an airy and green appearance.

Climate

Oslo has a humid continental climate (Dfb according to the Köppen climate classification system). Because of the city's northern latitude, daylight varies greatly, from more than 18 hours in midsummer, when it never gets completely dark at night, to around 6 hours in midwinter. Despite its northerly location, the climate is relatively mild throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream.

Oslo has pleasantly mild to warm summers with average high temperatures of and lows of around . Temperatures exceed quite often, and heatwaves are common during the summer. In the summer of 2009, a heatwave caused temperatures to exceed for six straight days, peaking at . The highest temperature ever recorded was on 21 July 1901. Due to the fjord being a relatively enclosed body of water, the water temperatures can get quite high during long warm periods. During the summer of 2008, the water reached a temperature of . Winters are cold and snowy with temperatures between up to . The coldest temperature recorded is in January 1942. Temperatures have tended to be higher in recent years.

Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall can occur from November to April, but snow accumulation occurs mainly from January through March. Almost every winter, ice develops in the innermost parts of the Oslofjord, and during some winters the whole inner fjord freezes. As it is far from the mild Atlantic water of the west coast, this large fjord can freeze over completely, although this has become rare.

Parks and recreation areas

Oslo has a large number of parks and green areas within the city core, as well as outside it.

Frogner Park is a large park located a few minutes walk away from the city centre. This is the biggest and most reputed park in Norway with a large collection of sculptures of Gustav Vigeland

Bygdøy is a huge and green area, commonly called the Museum Peninsula of Oslo. The beautiful location, surrounded by the sea, makes it the most expensive Norwegian district.

St. Hanshaugen Park is an old public park on a high hill in central Oslo. 'St. Hanshaugen' is also the name of the surrounding neighbourhood as well as the larger administrative district (borough) that includes major parts of central Oslo. Tøyen Park stretches out behind the Munch Museum, and is a vast, grassy expanse. In the north, there is a viewing point known as Ola Narr. The Tøyen area also includes the Botanical Garden and Museum belonging to the University of Oslo. Oslo (with neighbouring Sandvika-Asker) is built in a horseshoe shape on the shores of the Oslofjord and limited in most directions by hills and forests. As a result, any point within the city is relatively close to the forest. There are two major forests bordering the city: ''Østmarka'' (literally "Eastern Forest", on the eastern perimeter of the city), and the very large ''Nordmarka'' (literally "Northern Forest", stretching from the northern perimeter of the city deep into the hinterland).true

The municipality operates eight public swimming pools. Tøyenbadet is the largest indoor swimming facility in Oslo and one of the few pools in Norway offering a 50-metre main pool. The outdoor pool Frognerbadet also has the 50-metre range.

Cityscape

Oslo's cityscape is being redeveloped as a modern city with various access-points, an extensive metro-system with a new financial district and a cultural city. In 2008, an exhibition was held in London presenting the award-winning Oslo Opera House, the urban regeneration scheme of Oslo's seafront, Munch/Stenersen and the new Deichman Library. Most of the buildings in the city and in neighbouring communities are low in height with only the Plaza, Postgirobygget and the highrises at Bjørvika considerably taller.

Architecture

Oslo's architecture is very diverse. Architect Carl Frederik Stanley (1769–1805), who was educated in Copenhagen, spent some years in Norway around the turn of the 19th century. He did minor works for wealthy patrons in and around Oslo, but his major achievement was the renovation of the Oslo Katedralskole, completed in 1800. He added a classical portico to the front of an older structure, and a semi-circular auditorium that was sequestered by Parliament in 1814 as a temporary place to assemble, now preserved at Norsk Folkemuseum as a national monument.

Christiania, recently promoted to the status of a capital city, had practically no buildings suitable for the many new government institutions. An ambitious building program was initiated, but realised very slowly because of a strained economy. The first major undertaking was the Royal Palace, designed by Hans Linstow and built between 1824 and 1848. Linstow also planned Karl Johans gate, the avenue connecting the Palace and the city, with a monumental square halfway to be surrounded by buildings for the University, the Parliament (Storting) and other institutions. Only the University buildings were realised according to this plan. Christian Heinrich Grosch, one of the first fully educated architects in Norway, designed the original building for the Oslo Stock Exchange (1826–1828), the local branch of the Bank of Norway (1828), Christiania Theatre (1836–1837), and the first campus for the University of Oslo (1841–1856). For the University buildings, he sought the assistance of the renowned German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

The German architectural influence persisted in Norway, and many wooden buildings followed the principles of Neoclassicism. In Oslo, the German architect Alexis de Chateauneuf designed Trefoldighetskirken, the first neo-gothic church, completed by von Hanno in 1858.

A number of landmark structures, particularly in Oslo, were built in the functionalist style, the first one being the Skansen restaurant (1925–1927) by Lars Backer, demolished in 1970. Backer also designed the restaurant at Ekeberg, opened in 1929. The art gallery Kunstnernes Hus by Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas (1930) still shows influence from the preceding classicist trend of the 1920s. Oslo Airport (by the Aviaplan consortium at Gardermoen was Norway's largest construction project ever.

Politics and government

Oslo is the capital of Norway, and as such is the seat of Norway's national government. Most government offices, including that of the Prime Minister, are gathered at ''Regjeringskvartalet'', a cluster of buildings close to the national Parliament—the Storting.

Constituting both a municipality and a county of Norway, the city of Oslo is represented in the Storting by seventeen Members of Parliament. Six MPs are from the Labour Party; the Conservative Party and the Progress Party have three each; the Socialist Left Party and the Liberals have two each; and one is from the Christian Democrats.

250px|thumb|right|[[Royal Palace, Oslo|Slottet is the home of the Royal Family.]]The combined municipality and county of Oslo has had a parliamentary system of government since 1986. The supreme authority of the city is the City Council (''Bystyret''), which currently has 59 seats. Representatives are popularly elected every four years. The City Council has five standing committees, each having its own areas of responsibility.The largest parties in the City Council are the Labour Party and the Conservatives, with 18 and 16 representatives respectively.

The Mayor of Oslo is the head of the City Council and the highest ranking representative of the city. This used to be the most powerful political position in Oslo, but following the implementation of parliamentarism, the Mayor has had more of a ceremonial role, similar to that of the President of the Storting at the national level. The current Mayor of Oslo is Fabian Stang.

Since the local elections of 2003, the city government has been a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Progress Party. Based mostly on support from the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, the coalition maintains a workable majority in the City Council. After the 2007 local elections on 10 September, the conservative coalition remained in majority.

The Governing Mayor of Oslo is the head of the City government. The post was created with the implementation of parliamentarism in Oslo and is similar to the role of the prime minister at the national level. The current governing mayor is Stian Berger Røsland.

Economy

Oslo is an important centre of maritime knowledge in Europe and is home to approximately 1980 companies and 8,500 employees within the maritime sector, some of which are the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers, and insurance brokers. Det Norske Veritas, headquartered at Høvik outside Oslo, is one of the three major maritime classification societies in the world, with 16.5% of the world fleet to class in its register. The city's port is the largest general cargo port in the country and its leading passenger gateway. Close to 6,000 ships dock at the Port of Oslo annually with a total of 6 million tonnes of cargo and over five million passengers. The gross domestic product of Oslo totalled NOK268.047 billion (€33.876 billion) in 2003, which amounted to 17% of the national GDP. This compares with NOK165.915 billion (€20.968 billion) in 1995. The metropolitan area, bar Moss and Drammen, contributed 25% of the national GDP in 2003 and was also responsible for more than one quarter of tax revenues. In comparison, total tax revenues from the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf amounted to about 16%.

Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. As of 2006, it is ranked tenth according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey provided by Mercer Human Resource Consulting and first according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. The reason for this discrepancy is that the EIU omits certain factors from its final index calculation, most notably housing. Although Oslo does have the most expensive housing market in Norway, it is comparably cheaper than other cities on the list in that regard. Meanwhile, prices on goods and services remain some of the highest of any city. Oslo hosts 2654 of the largest companies in Norway. Within the ranking of Europe's largest cities ordered by their number of companies Oslo is in fifth position. A whole group of oil and gas companies is situated in Oslo. According to a report compiled by Swiss bank UBS in the month of August 2006, Oslo and London were the world's most expensive cities.

Environment

Oslo is a compact city. It is easy to move around by public transportation and you can access rentable city bikes all over the city centre. In 2003, Oslo received The European Sustainable City Award and in 2007 Reader's Digest ranked Oslo as number two on a list of the world's greenest, most liveable cities.

''See also Transportation ''

Education

Institutions of higher education

University of Oslo (Universitetet i Oslo) – undergraduate, graduate and PhD programs in most fields.

Oslo University College (Høgskolen i Oslo) – focuses on 3–4 year professional degree programs.

Norwegian School of Management (Handelshøyskolen BI) – primarily economics and business administration.

Norwegian School of Information Technology (Norges Informasjonsteknologiske Høyskole)

Oslo School of Architecture and Design (Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo)

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (Norges idrettshøgskole) – offers opportunities to study at the Bachelor, Masters and Doctoral level

Norwegian Academy of Music (Norges musikkhøgskole)

MF Norwegian School of Theology (Det teologiske Menighetsfakultet — MF)

Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo KHIO) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Universitetet for Miljø og Biovitenskap-UMB) located right outside of Oslo

Norwegian Military Academy (Krigsskolen)

Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (Norges Veterinærhøgskole) Oslo Academy of Fine Arts (Statens kunstakademi)

Oslo School of Management (Markedshøyskolen)

The level of education and productivity in the workforce is high in Norway. Nearly half of those with education at tertiary level in Norway live in the Oslo region, placing it among Europe's top three regions in relation to education. In 2008, the total workforce in the greater Oslo region (5 counties) numbered 1,020,000 people. The greater Oslo region has several higher educational institutions and is home to more than 73,000 students. The University of Oslo is the largest educational institution with 27,700 students and 5,900 employees.

Culture

Oslo has a large and varied number of cultural attractions, which include several buildings containing artwork from Edvard Munch and various other international artists but also several Norwegian artists. Several world-famous writers have either lived or been born in Oslo. Examples are Knut Hamsun and Henrik Ibsen. The government has recently invested large amounts of money in cultural installations, facilities, buildings and festivals in the City of Oslo. Bygdøy, outside the city centre is the centre for history and the Norwegian Vikings' history. The area contains a large amount of parks and seasites and a large amount of museums. Examples are the Fram Museum, Vikingskiphuset and the Kon-Tiki Museum. Oslo hosts the annual Oslo Freedom Forum, a conference described by The Economist as “on its way to becoming a human-rights equivalent of the Davos economic forum.” Oslo is also known for giving out the Nobel Peace Prize every year.

Museums, galleries

Oslo houses several major Museums and galleries. The Munch Museum contains the Scream and other work by Edvard Munch who donated all his work to the city after his death. The City-Council is currently planning a new Munch Museum which is most likely to be built in Bjørvika, in the southeast of the city. The museum will be named Munch/Stenersen. 50 different museums are located around the city. Folkemuseet is located on the Bygdøy peninsula and is dedicated to Folk art, Folk Dress, Sami culture and the viking culture. The outdoor museum contains 155 authentic old buildings from all parts of Norway, including a Stave Church. The Vigeland Museum located in the large Vigeland Park by many people known as the Frognerpark is free to access and contains over 212 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland including an obelisk and the Wheel of Life. Another popular sculpture is Sinnataggen, a baby boy stamping his foot in fury. This statue is very well known as an icon in the city. Vikingskiphuset contains three vikingships found at Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune and several other unique items from the Viking age. The Oslo City Museum holds a permanent exhibition about the people in Oslo and the history of the city. The Kon-Tiki Museum houses Thor Heyerdahls Kontiki and Ra2.

The National Museum holds and preserves, exhibits and promotes public knowledge about Norway's most extensive collection of art. The Museum shows permanent exhibitions of works from its own collections but also temporary exhibitions that incorporate work loaned from elsewhere. The National Museums exhibition avenues are the National Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the National Museum of Architecture. A new National Museum in Oslo will be built in the next 10 years. The winner was Forum Artis, and the building will be located at Vestbanen behind the Nobel Peace Center. The Nobel Peace Center is an independent organisation opened on 11 June 2005 by the King Harald V as part of the celebrations to mark Norway's centenary as an independent country. The building houses a permanent exhibition, expanding every year when a new Nobel Peace Prize winner is announced, containing information of every winner in history. The building is mainly used as a communication centre.

Music and events

A large number of festivals are held in Oslo, such as Oslo Live, a rock and roll event, and the Oslo Jazz festival is a six-day festival which has been held annually in August for the past 25 years. Oslo's biggest Rock festival is Øyafestivalen or simply "Øya". It draws about 60,000 people to the Medieval Park east in Oslo and last for four days. The Oslo World Music Festival showcases people who are stars in their own country but strangers in Norway. The Oslo Chamber Music Festival is held in August every year and world-class chambers and soloists gather in Oslo to perform at this festival. The Norwegian Wood Rock Festival is held every year in June in Oslo.

The Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony is headed by the Institute; the award ceremony is held annually in The City Hall on 10 December. Even though Sami land is far away from the capital, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History marks the Sami National Day with a series of activities and entertainment.

The World Cup Biathlon in Holmenkollen is held every year and here male and female competitors compete against each other in Sprint, Pursuit and Mass Start disciplines.

Other examples of annual events in Oslo are Desucon, a convention focusing on Japanese culture and Færderseilasen, the world's largest overnight regatta with more than 1100 boats taking part every year.

Rikard Nordraak, composer of the Norwegian national anthem, was born in Oslo in 1842.

Norway's principal orchestra is the Oslo Philharmonic, based at the Oslo Concert Hall since 1977. Although it was founded in 1919, the Oslo Philharmonic can trace its roots to the founding of the ''Christiania Musikerforening'' (Christiania Musicians Society) by Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen in 1879.

Performing arts

Oslo houses over 20 theatres, such as the Norwegian Theatre and the National Theatre located at Karl Johan Street. The National Theatre is the largest theatre in Norway and is situated between the castle and the Storting. The names of Ludvig Holberg, Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson are engraved on the façade of the building over the main entrance. This theatre represents the actors and play-writers of the country but the songwriters, singers and dancers are represented in the form of a newly opened Oslo Opera House, situated in Bjørvika. The Opera was opened in 2008 and is a national landmark, designed by the Norwegian architectural firm, Snøhetta. There are two houses, together containing over 2000 seats. The building cost 500 million euro to build and took five years to build and is known for being the first Opera House in the world to let people walk on the roof of the building. The foyer and the roof are also used for concerts as well as the three stages.

Literature

Most great Norwegian authors have lived in Oslo for some period in their life. For example Nobel Prize author Sigrid Undset grew up Oslo, and has described her life here in the autobiographical novel ''Elleve år'' (1934; translated as ''The longest years''; New York 1971).

Playwright Henrik Ibsen is probably the most famous Norwegian author. Ibsen wrote plays such as ''Peer Gynt'', ''A Doll's House'' and ''The Lady from the Sea''. The Ibsen Quotes project completed in 2008 is a work of art consisting of 69 Ibsen quotations in stainless steel lettering which have been set into the granite sidewalks of the city's central streets.

In recent years, novelists like Lars Saabye Christensen, Tove Nilsen and Roy Jacobsen have described the city and its people in their novels. Early 20th century literature from Oslo include poets Rudolf Nilsen and André Bjerke.

Media

The newspapers ''Aftenposten,'' ''Dagbladet,'' ''Verdens Gang,'' ''Dagens Næringsliv,'' ''Finansavisen,'' ''Dagsavisen,'' ''Morgenbladet,'' ''Vårt Land, Nationen'' and ''Klassekampen'' are published in Oslo. The main office of the national broadcasting company NRK is located at Marienlyst in Oslo, near Majorstuen. TVNorge (TVNorway) is also located in Oslo, while TV 2 (based in Bergen) and TV3 (based in London) operate branch offices in central Oslo. There is also a variety of specialty publications and smaller media companies. A number of magazines are produced in Oslo. The two dominant companies are Aller Media and Hjemmet Mortensen AB.

Sports

Holmenkollen National Arena and Holmenkollbakken is the country's main biathlon and Nordic skiing venue. It hosts annual world cup tournaments, including the Holmenkollen Ski Festival. It has hosted Biathlon World Championships in 1986, 1990, 1999 and 2002. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been hosted in 1930, 1966, 1982 and 2011, as well as the 1952 Winter Olympics.

Ullevål Stadion is the home arena for the Tippeligaen football side Vålerenga Fotball, the Norwegian national football team and the Football Cup Final. The stadium has previously hosted the finals of the UEFA Women's Championship in 1987 and 1997, and the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Røa IL is Oslo's only team in the women's league, Toppserien. Each year, the international youth football tournament Norway Cup is held on Ekebergsletta and other places in the city.

Bislett Stadion is the city's main track and field venue, and hosts the annual Bislett Games, part of IAAF Diamond League. Bjerke Travbane is the main venue for harness racing in the country. Oslo Spektrum is used for large ice hockey and handball matches. Bækkelagets SK and Nordstrand IF plays in the women's Postenligaen in handball, while Vålerenga Håndball plays in the men's league. Jordal Amfi, the home of the ice hockey team Vålerenga Ishockey, and Manglerudhallen is the home of Manglerud Star, both of whom play in GET-ligaen. The 1999 IIHF World Championship in ice hockey were held in Oslo, as have three Bandy World Championships, in 1961, 1977 and 1985. The UCI Road World Championships in bicycle road racing were hosted 1993.

Crime

Oslo Police District is Norway's largest police district with over 2300 employees. Over 1700 of those are policemen, nearly 140 police lawyers and 500 civil employees. Oslo Police District has five police stations located around the city. Kripos is located in Oslo, which is a Norwegian special police division under the NMJP.

PST is also located in the Oslo District. PST is a security agency which was established in 1936 and is one of the non-secret agencies in Norway. At least two known underground NATO facilities are located in The Oslo District, one underground in Kolsås near NSM which is one of Norway's major national security authorities.

On 22 July 2011, Oslo was the site of one of two terrorist attacks: a bombing of Oslo government offices, and a shooting at a youth camp in Utøya.

Transportation

Oslo has Norway's most extensive public transport system, managed by Ruter. This includes the six-line Oslo Metro, the world's most extensive metro per resident, the six-line Oslo Tramway and the eight-line Oslo Commuter Rail. The tramway operates within the areas close to the city centre, while the metro, which runs underground through the city centre, operates to suburbs further away; this includes two lines which operate to Bærum, and the Ring Line which loops to areas north of the centre.

Oslo Central Station acts as the central hub, and offers train services to most major cities in southern Norway as well as Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden. The Airport Express Train operates along the high-speed Gardermoen Line. The Drammen Line runs under the city centre in the Oslo Tunnel. Some of the city islands and the neighbouring municipality of Nesodden are connected by ferry. Daily cruiseferry services operate to Copenhagen and Frederikshavn in Denmark, and to Kiel in Germany.

Many of the motorways pass through the downtown and other parts of the city in tunnels. The construction of the roads is partially supported through a toll ring. The major motorways through Oslo are European Route E6 and E18. There are three beltways, the innermost which are streets and the outermost, Ring 3 which is an expressway.

The main airport serving Oslo is Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, located in Ullensaker, from the city centre of Oslo. It acts as the main international gateway to Norway, and is the sixth-largest domestic airport in Europe. Gardermoen is a hub for Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe. Oslo is also served by two secondary airports, which serve some low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair: Moss Airport, Rygge and Sandefjord Airport, Torp, the latter being from the city.

Demographics

{{bar box |title=Religion in Oslo |titlebar=#ddd |left1=religion |right1=percent |float=right |bars= }} An estimated 28 % of Oslo's residents are of an immigrant or non-Norwegian background (about 170,000 inhabitants), predicted to increase to between 44% and 51% around 2030. In 2008, the immigrant population accounted for about 82% of the population growth of the city. From 1970 to 2007, the ethnic Norwegian population decreased by 10.1% while the immigrant population increased by 823.6%. Pakistanis make up 20,812 of the city's inhabitants, followed by Somalis (10,780), Swedes (9,250), and Poles (8,854)—these being the four largest ethnic minority groups. Other large immigrant groups are people from Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Turkey, Morocco, Iraq and Denmark.

By June 2009, more than 40% of Oslo schools had a majority of people of immigrant backgrounds, with some schools having up to a 97% immigrant share. Schools are also increasingly divided by ethnicity, with white flight being widespread. In the borough Groruddalen in 2008 for instance, the ethnic Norwegian population decreased by 1,500, while the immigrant population increased by 1,600. From 2000–2007, 7,250 ethnic Norwegians moved out of the city, while 32,700 persons of immigrant background, mostly non-western, moved in.

The population of Oslo is currently increasing at a record rate of nearly 2% annually (17% over the last 15 years), making it the fastest-growing Scandinavian capital. The increase is due, in almost equal degree, to high birth-rates and immigration, though both is largely due to immigration, seeing that the ethnic Norwegian population is actually decreasing. In particular, immigration from Poland and the Baltic states has increased sharply since the accession of these countries to the EU in 2004.

Oslo is a city with various religious communities. The city has a low percentage of Christians in contrast to other parts of the country. As of 2009, 11% of the population of Oslo are Muslim, but just 7.59% are registered Muslims.

Number of minorities (1st and 2nd generation) in Oslo by country of origin per 1. January 2011.

style="background:#efefef;"	Rank	Ancestry	Number
1		21,629
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Notable residents

International relations

Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission Intercultural cities programme.

Twin towns – partner cities – and regions

Oslo is twinned or has cooperation agreements with the following cities/regions:

	* Alfaz del Pi, Spain	* Gothenburg, Sweden	* Gujrat, Pakistan	* Mazarrón, Spain	* Mbombela, South Africa	* St. Petersburg, Russia	* Schleswig-Holstein, Germany	* Shanghai, China	* Vilnius, Lithuania	* Warsaw, Poland

Christmas trees as gifts

Oslo has a tradition of sending a Christmas tree every year to the cities of Washington, D.C., New York, London, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Reykjavík. Since 1947, Oslo has sent a 65–80-foot (20–25 m) high, 50 to 100 year-old spruce, as an expression of gratitude toward Britain for its support of Norway during World War II.

See also

East End and West End of Oslo

List of books about Oslo

Oslo Accords

Parks and open spaces in Oslo

Timeline of transport in Oslo

References

External links

Oslo Virtual Tour – 360* panoramic pictures

City of Oslo: Official website City of Oslo: Official website

Official Travel and Visitors Guide to Oslo

Oslo The official travel guide to Norway

Local Travel Information Guide Oslo city

SNL.no Online encyclopedia ''Store Norske Leksikon'''s entry about Oslo

Category:1040s establishments in Norway Category:Populated places established in the 11th century Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Cities and towns in Norway Category:Counties of Norway Category:Host cities of the Winter Olympic Games Category:Populated coastal places in Norway Category:Port cities and towns in Norway Category:Port cities and towns of the North Sea Category:Viking Age populated places Category:IOC Session Host Cities

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name	Jim Marrs
image 18ze	180px
birth date	December 05, 1943
birth place	Fort Worth, Texas US
occupation	JournalistAuthor
children	}}

Jim Marrs (born 5 December 1943) is an American former newspaper journalist and New York Times best-selling author of books and articles on a wide range of alleged cover ups and conspiracies. Marrs is a prominent figure in the JFK conspiracy press and his book ''Crossfire'' was a source for Oliver Stone's film ''JFK''. He has written books asserting the existence of government conspiracies regarding aliens, 9/11, telepathy, and secret societies. He was once a news reporter in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and has taught a class on the Kennedy Assassination at University of Texas at Arlington. Marrs is a member of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth.

Biography

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Marrs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Texas in 1966 and attended graduate school at Texas Tech in Lubbock for two years more. He has worked for several Texas newspapers, including the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', where, beginning in 1968, he served as police reporter and general assignments reporter covering stories locally, in Europe, and in the Middle East. After a leave of absence to serve with a Fourth Army intelligence unit during the Vietnam War, he became military and aerospace writer for the newspaper and an investigative reporter.

Since 1980, Marrs has been a free-lance writer, author, and public relations consultant. He has also published a rural weekly newspaper along with a monthly tourism tabloid, a cable television show, and several videos.

Since 1976, Marrs has taught a course on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1989, his book, ''Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy'', was published and reached the ''New York Times'' Paperback Non-Fiction Best Seller list in mid-February 1992. It became a basis for the Oliver Stone film ''JFK''. Marrs served as a chief consultant for both the film's screenplay and production. In it, Marrs claims the Illuminati were behind the murder, and indicates the group are keepers of ancient knowledge brought to earth in prehistory by an alien race called the Annunaki. This idea was popularized by Zecharia Sitchin.

Beginning in 1992, Marrs spent three years researching and completing a non-fiction book on a top-secret government program called the Stargate Project involving the psychic phenomenon known as remote viewing, only to have the program canceled as it was going to press in the summer of 1995. Within two months, the story of military-developed remote viewing broke nationally in the Washington Post after the CIA revealed the program.

In May 1997, Marrs' investigation of UFOs, ''Alien Agenda'', was published by HarperCollins Publishers. ''Publishers Weekly'' described ''Alien Agenda'' as "the most entertaining and complete overview of flying saucers and their crew in years". The paperback edition was released in mid-1998. It has been translated into several foreign languages and become the top-selling UFO book in the world.

In early 2000, HarperCollins published ''Rule by Secrecy'', which claimed to trace a hidden history connecting modern secret societies to ancient and medieval times. This book also reached the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 2003, his book ''The War on Freedom'' probed the alleged conspiracies of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. It was released in 2006 under the title ''The Terror Conspiracy''.

Marrs has been a featured speaker at a number of national conferences including the annual International UFO Congress and the annual Gulf Breeze UFO Conference, but he also speaks at local conferences, such as Conspiracy Con and The Bay Area UFO Expo. Beginning in 2000, he began teaching a course on UFOs at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Marrs has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, The Discovery Channel, TLC, The History Channel, ''This Morning America'', ''Geraldo'', ''The Montel Williams Show'', ''Today'', ''TechTV'', ''Larry King'' (with George Noory), and ''Art Bell'' radio programs, as well as numerous national and regional radio and TV shows.

Media

Books

ISBN 978-0-061970-68-9 The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy: How the New World Order, Man-Made Diseases, and Zombie Banks Are Destroying America (Hardcover, June 2010)

ISBN 978-1-934708-29-3 The Sisterhood of the Rose (Hardcover, November 2009)

ISBN 978-1-934708-09-5 Above Top Secret (paperback, October 2008)

ISBN 978-0-06-124558-9 The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America (hardcover, June 2008)

ISBN 978-1-93-285743-6 The Terror Conspiracy: Deception, 9/11 and the Loss of Liberty (paperback, 2006) (An expanded and updated version of "The War On Freedom")

ISBN 978-1-57-983013-7 Inside Job: Unmasking the 9/11 Conspiracies (paperback, 2004) (the first section of "The War On Freedom" plus some appendices not included in other books)

ISBN 978-0-97-271311-5 The War On Freedom (paperback, 2003)

ISBN 978-0-97-271310-8 Psi Spies (paperback, 2002)

ISBN 978-0-06-093184-1 Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids (paperback, 2001)

ISBN 978-0-06-095536-6 Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us (paperback, 2000)

ISBN 978-0-88-184648-5 Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy (paperback, 1993) (#5 New York Times non-fiction paperback bestseller, February 1992)

Videos

Safespace - Fastwalkers - Winter 2006

Audio

CDs 16 Questions

Radio Interviews Though participating in a number of radio shows, it has become tradition for Jim Marrs to be the guest of the season premier of Binnall of America Audio

Binnall of America Season 1 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - September 10, 2005

Binnall of America Season 2 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - September 30, 2006

Binnall of America Season 3 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - October 20, 2007

Binnall of America Season 4 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - October 26, 2008

Binnall of America Season 5 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - November 24, 2009

Binnall of America Season 6 Premier - Part 1 and Part 2 - November 29, 2010

See also

Conspiracy theories

Mark Dice

James Fetzer

David Ray Griffin

Steven E. Jones

Jeff Rense

Aaron Russo

Webster Tarpley

Loose Change

David Icke

Alex Jones

References

External links

Jim Marrs - Homepage

Jim Marrs - Biography

Jonathan Curiel, "THE CONSPIRACY TO REWRITE 9/11: Conspiracy theorists insist the U.S. government, not terrorists, staged the devastating attacks", ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 3, 2006

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American UFO writers Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:Researchers of the John F. Kennedy assassination Category:Ufologists Category:People from Fort Worth, Texas Category:Texas Tech University alumni Category:Writers from Texas

pl:Jim Marrs et:Jim Marrs es:Jim Marrs fr:Jim Marrs is:Jim Marrs nl:Jim Marrs sv:Jim Marrs

name	George Ayittey
color	lightsteelblue
birth date	1945
nationality
institution	American University
field	Political economics
alma mater	University of ManitobaUniversity of Western OntarioUniversity of Ghana
signature
repec prefix	| repec_id }}

George Ayittey (born 1945) is a Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC. He is a professor at American University, and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has championed the argument that "Africa is poor because she is not free", that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats. He also goes beyond criticism to advocate for specific ways to address the abuses of the past and present; specifically he calls for democratic government, debt reexamination, modernized infrastructure, free market economics, and free trade to promote development.

Life

Ayittey holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon, an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba. He has taught at Wayne State College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He held a National Fellowship at the Hoover Institution in 1988-89, and then joined The Heritage Foundation as a Bradley Resident Scholar. He founded The Free Africa Foundation in 1993, to serve as a catalyst for reform in Africa. In 2008 Dr. Ayittey was listed by ''Foreign Policy'' as one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" who "are shaping the tenor of our time". He lives in Lorton, Virginia.

Works

''Indigenous African Institutions'', Transnational Publishers, 1991; 2nd ed., 2004

''The Blueprint for Ghana's Economic Recovery'', Africana Publishers, 1997

''Africa Betrayed'', St. Martin’s Press,, 1992

''Africa in Chaos'', St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

''Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development'', Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004

References

External links

Bio at A World Connected

TED Talks: George Ayittey on Cheetahs vs. Hippos at TED Global in 2007

Human Rights: Africa's Shady Politicians Are at Root of Continent's Destitution, commentary by Dr. Ayittey

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:American University faculty and staff Category:Ghanaian academics Category:Ghanaian economists Category:Heritage Foundation Category:University of Ghana alumni Category:University of Manitoba alumni Category:University of Western Ontario alumni

es:George Ayittey fr:George Ayittey

Name	Garry Kasparov
Name	Garry Kasparov(Гарри Кимович Каспаров)
Country	Russia
Birth date	April 13, 1963
Birth place	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Title	Grandmaster
Career	1976–2005
Worldchampion	1985–1993 (undisputed)1993–2000 (Classical)
Rating	inactive
Peakrating	2851 (July 1999) }}

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (, ; born Garry Kimovich Weinstein, 13 April 1963, Baku, Azerbaijan) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. He continued to hold the "Classical" World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. He is also widely known for being the first world chess champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to Deep Blue in 1997.

Kasparov's ratings achievements include being rated world No.1 according to Elo rating almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005 and holding the all-time highest rating of 2851. He was the world number-one ranked player for 255 months, by far the most of all-time and nearly three times as long as his closest rival, Anatoly Karpov. He also holds records for consecutive tournament victories and Chess Oscars.

Kasparov announced his retirement from professional chess on 10 March 2005, to devote his time to politics and writing. He formed the United Civil Front movement, and joined as a member of The Other Russia, a coalition opposing the administration of Vladimir Putin. He was a candidate for the 2008 Russian presidential race, but later withdrew. Widely regarded in the West as a symbol of opposition to Putin, Kasparov's support in Russia is low.

Early career

Garry Kasparov was born Garry Kimovich Weinstein (Russian: Гарри Вайнштейн) in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union; now Azerbaijan, to an Armenian mother and Jewish father. He first began the serious study of chess after he came across a chess problem set up by his parents and proposed a solution. His father died of leukemia when he was seven years old. At the age of twelve, he adopted his mother's Armenian surname, Gasparyan, modifying it to a more Russified version, Kasparov.

From age 7, Kasparov attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku and, at 10 began training at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school under noted coach Vladimir Makogonov. Makogonov helped develop Kasparov's positional skills and taught him to play the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Kasparov won the Soviet Junior Championship in Tbilisi in 1976, scoring 7 points of 9, at age 13. He repeated the feat the following year, winning with a score of 8½ of 9. He was being trained by Alexander Shakarov during this time.

In 1978, Kasparov participated in the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk. He had been invited as an exception but took first place and became a chess master. Kasparov has repeatedly said that this event was a turning point in his life, and that it convinced him to choose chess as his career. "I will remember the Sokolsky Memorial as long as I live", he wrote. He has also said that after the victory, he thought he had a very good shot at the World Championship.

He first qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship at age 15 in 1978, the youngest ever player at that level. He won the 64-player Swiss system tournament at Daugavpils over tiebreak from Igor V. Ivanov, to capture the sole qualifying place.

Kasparov rose quickly through the FIDE (World Chess Federation) rankings. Starting with an oversight by the Russian Chess Federation, he participated in a Grandmaster tournament in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia), in 1979 while still unrated (He was a replacement for Viktor Korchnoi whom was originally invited but withdrew due to threat of boycott from the Soviet). He won this high-class tournament, emerging with a provisional rating of 2595, enough to catapult him to the top group of chess players (at the time, number 15 in the World). The next year, 1980, he won the World Junior Chess Championship in Dortmund, West Germany. Later that year, he made his debut as second reserve for the Soviet Union at the Chess Olympiad at La Valletta, Malta, and became a Grandmaster.

Toward the top

As a teenager, Kasparov twice tied for first place in the USSR Chess Championship, in 1980–81 and 1981–82. His first win in a superclass-level international tournament was scored at Bugojno, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1982. He earned a place in the 1982 Moscow Interzonal tournament, which he won, to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. At age 19, he was the youngest Candidate since Bobby Fischer, who was 15 when he qualified in 1958. At this stage, he was already the #2-rated player in the world, trailing only World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov on the January 1983 list.

Kasparov's first (quarter-final) Candidates match was against Alexander Beliavsky, whom he defeated 6–3 (four wins, one loss). Politics threatened Kasparov's semi-final against Viktor Korchnoi, which was scheduled to be played in Pasadena, California. Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union in 1976, and was at that time the strongest active non-Soviet player. Various political maneuvers prevented Kasparov from playing Korchnoi, and Kasparov forfeited the match. This was resolved by Korchnoi allowing the match to be replayed in London, along with the previously scheduled match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltán Ribli. The Kasparov-Korchnoi match was put together on short notice by Raymond Keene. Kasparov lost the first game but won the match 7–4 (four wins, one loss).

In January 1984, Kasparov became the number-one ranked player in the world, with a FIDE rating of 2710. He became the youngest ever world number-one, a record that lasted 12 years until being broken by Vladimir Kramnik in January 1996; the record is currently held by his former pupil, Magnus Carlsen.

Later in 1984, he won the Candidates' final 8½–4½ (four wins, no losses) against the resurgent former world champion Vasily Smyslov, at Vilnius, thus qualifying to play Anatoly Karpov for the World Championship. That year he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), as a member of which he was elected to the Central Committee of Komsomol in 1987.

1984 World Championship

The World Chess Championship 1984 match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov had many ups and downs, and a very controversial finish. Karpov started in very good form, and after nine games Kasparov was down 4–0 in a "first to six wins" match. Fellow players predicted he would be whitewashed 6–0 within 18 games.

In a strange period, there followed a series of 17 successive draws, some relatively short, and others drawn in unsettled positions. He lost game 27, then fought back with another series of draws until game 32, his first-ever win against the World Champion. Another 15 successive draws followed, through game 46; the previous record length for a world title match had been 34 games, the match of José Raúl Capablanca vs. Alexander Alekhine in 1927.

Kasparov won games 47 and 48 to bring the scores to 5–3 in Karpov's favour. Then the match was ended without result by Florencio Campomanes, the President of Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), and a new match was announced to start a few months later. The termination was controversial, as both players stated that they preferred the match to continue. Announcing his decision at a press conference, Campomanes cited the health of the players, which had been strained by the length of the match.

The match became the first, and so far only, world championship match to be abandoned without result. Kasparov's relations with Campomanes and FIDE were greatly strained, and the feud between them eventually came to a head in 1993 with Kasparov's complete break-away from FIDE.

World Champion

The second Karpov-Kasparov match in 1985 was organized in Moscow as the best of 24 games where the first player to win 12½ points would claim the World Champion title. The scores from the terminated match would not carry over. But in the event of a 12–12 draw, the title would remain with Karpov. On 9 November 1985, Kasparov secured the title by a score of 13–11, winning the 24th game with Black, using a Sicilian defence. He was 22 years old at the time, making him the youngest ever World Champion, and breaking the record held by Mikhail Tal for over 20 years. Kasparov's win as Black in the 16th game has been recognized as one of the all-time masterpieces in chess history.

As part of the arrangements following the aborted 1984 match, Karpov had been granted (in the event of his defeat) a right to rematch. Another match took place in 1986, hosted jointly in London and Leningrad, with each city hosting 12 games. At one point in the match, Kasparov opened a three-point lead and looked well on his way to a decisive match victory. But Karpov fought back by winning three consecutive games to level the score late in the match. At this point, Kasparov dismissed one of his seconds, Grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov, accusing him of selling his opening preparation to the Karpov team (as described in Kasparov's autobiography ''Unlimited Challenge'', chapter Stab in the Back). Kasparov scored one more win and kept his title by a final score of 12½–11½.

A fourth match for the world title took place in 1987 in Seville, as Karpov had qualified through the Candidates' Matches to again become the official challenger. This match was very close, with neither player holding more than a one-point lead at any time during the contest. Kasparov was down one full point at the time of the final game, and needed a win to draw the match and retain his title. A long tense game ensued in which Karpov blundered away a pawn just before the first time control, and Kasparov eventually won a long ending. Kasparov retained his title as the match was drawn by a score of 12–12. (All this meant that Kasparov had played Karpov four times in the period 1984–1987, a statistic unprecedented in chess. Matches organised by FIDE had taken place every three years since 1948, and only Botvinnik had a right to a rematch before Karpov.)

A fifth match between Kasparov and Karpov was held in New York and Lyon in 1990, with each city hosting 12 games. Again, the result was a close one with Kasparov winning by a margin of 12½–11½. In their five world championship matches, Kasparov had 21 wins, 19 losses, and 104 draws in 144 games.

Break with and ejection from FIDE

With the World Champion title in hand, Kasparov began fighting against FIDE—as Bobby Fischer had done 20 years earlier but this time from within FIDE. Beginning in 1986, he created the Grandmasters Association (GMA), an organization to represent professional chess players and give them more say in FIDE's activities. Kasparov assumed a leadership role. GMA's major achievement was in organizing a series of six World Cup tournaments for the world's top players. A somewhat uneasy relationship developed with FIDE, and a sort of truce was brokered by Bessel Kok, a Dutch businessman.

This stand-off lasted until 1993, by which time a new challenger had qualified through the Candidates cycle for Kasparov's next World Championship defense: Nigel Short, a British Grandmaster who had defeated Anatoly Karpov in a qualifying match, and then Jan Timman in the finals held in early 1993. After a confusing and compressed bidding process produced lower financial estimates than expected, the world champion and his challenger decided to play outside FIDE's jurisdiction, under another organization created by Kasparov called the Professional Chess Association (PCA). This is where a great fracture in the lineage of World Champions began.

In an interview in 2007, Kasparov would call the break with FIDE the worst mistake of his career, as it hurt the game in the long run.

Kasparov and Short were ejected from FIDE, and played their well-sponsored match in London. Kasparov won convincingly by a score of 12½–7½. The match considerably raised the profile of chess in the UK, with an unprecedented level of coverage on Channel 4. Meanwhile, FIDE organized a World Championship match between Jan Timman (the defeated Candidates finalist) and former World Champion Karpov (a defeated Candidates semifinalist), which Karpov won.

There were now two World Champions: PCA champion Kasparov, and FIDE champion Karpov. The title would remain split for 13 years.

Kasparov defended his title in a 1995 match against Viswanathan Anand at the World Trade Center in New York City. Kasparov won the match by four wins to one, with thirteen draws. It was the last World Championship to be held under the auspices of the PCA, which collapsed when Intel, one of its major backers, withdrew its sponsorship in retaliation for Kasparov's choice to play a 1996 match against Deep Blue, which augmented the profile of IBM, one of Intel's chief rivals.

Kasparov tried to organize another World Championship match, under another organization, the World Chess Association (WCA) with Linares organizer Luis Rentero. Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik played a candidates match to decide the challenger, which Shirov won in a surprising upset. But when Rentero admitted that the funds required and promised had never materialized, the WCA collapsed.

This left Kasparov stranded, and yet another organization stepped in—BrainGames.com, headed by Raymond Keene. No match against Shirov was arranged, and talks with Anand collapsed, so a match was instead arranged against Kramnik.

During this period, Kasparov was approached by Oakham School in the United Kingdom, at the time the only school in the country with a full-time chess coach, and developed an interest in the use of chess in education. In 1997, Kasparov supported a scholarship programme at the school. Kasparov also won the Marca Leyenda trophy that year.

Losing the title and aftermath

The Kasparov-Kramnik match took place in London during the latter half of 2000. Kramnik had been a student of Kasparov's at the legendary Botvinnik/Kasparov chess school in Russia, and had served on Kasparov's team for the 1995 match against Viswanathan Anand.

The better-prepared Kramnik won Game 2 against Kasparov's Grünfeld Defence and achieved winning positions in Games 4 and 6. Kasparov made a critical error in Game 10 with the Nimzo-Indian Defence, which Kramnik exploited to win in 25 moves. As White, Kasparov could not crack the passive but solid Berlin Defence in the Ruy Lopez, and Kramnik successfully drew all his games as Black. Kramnik won the match 8½–6½, and for the first time in 15 years Kasparov had no world championship title. He became the first player to lose a world championship match without winning a game since Emanuel Lasker lost to Capablanca in 1921.

After losing the title, Kasparov won a series of major tournaments, and remained the top rated player in the world, ahead of both Kramnik and the FIDE World Champions. In 2001 he refused an invitation to the 2002 Dortmund Candidates Tournament for the Classical title, claiming his results had earned him a rematch with Kramnik.

Kasparov and Karpov played a four game match with rapid time controls over two days in December 2002 in New York City. Karpov surprised the experts and emerged victoriously, winning two games and drawing one.

Due to Kasparov's continuing strong results, and status as world No.1 in much of the public eye, he was included in the so-called "Prague Agreement", masterminded by Yasser Seirawan and intended to reunite the two World Championships. Kasparov was to play a match against the FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov in September 2003. But this match was called off after Ponomariov refused to sign his contract for it without reservation. In its place, there were plans for a match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, winner of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004, to be held in January 2005 in the United Arab Emirates. These also fell through due to lack of funding. Plans to hold the match in Turkey instead came too late. Kasparov announced in January 2005 that he was tired of waiting for FIDE to organize a match and so had decided to stop all efforts to regain the World Championship title.

Retirement from chess

After winning the prestigious Linares tournament for the ninth time, Kasparov announced on 10 March 2005 that he would retire from serious competitive chess. He cited as the reason a lack of personal goals in the chess world (he commented when winning the Russian championship in 2004 that it had been the last major title he had never won outright) and expressed frustration at the failure to reunify the world championship.

Kasparov said he may play in some rapid chess events for fun, but intends to spend more time on his books, including both the ''My Great Predecessors'' series (see below) and a work on the links between decision-making in chess and in other areas of life, and will continue to involve himself in Russian politics, which he views as "headed down the wrong path".

Kasparov has been married three times: to Masha, with whom he had a daughter before divorcing; to Yulia, with whom he had a son before their 2005 divorce; and to Daria, with whom he also has a child.

Post-retirement chess

On 22 August 2006, in his first public chess games since his retirement, Kasparov played in the Lichthof Chess Champions Tournament, a blitz event played at the time control of 5 minutes per side and 3 second increments per move. Kasparov tied for first with Anatoly Karpov, scoring 4½/6.

Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov played a 12-game match from 21–24 September 2009, in Valencia, Spain. It consisted of four rapid (or semi rapid) games, in which Kasparov won 3–1 and eight blitz games, in which Kasparov also won 6–2, winning the match with total result 9–3. The event took place exactly 25 years after the two players' legendary encounter at World Chess Championship 1984.

Kasparov has been coaching Magnus Carlsen since March 2009, in secret until September 2009. Under Kasparov's tutelage, Carlsen in October 2009 became the youngest ever to achieve a FIDE rating higher than 2800, and has risen from world number four to world number one; their arrangement will have Kasparov remain as coach at least through 2010.

In March 2010 it was announced that Carlsen had split from Kasparov and would no longer be using him as a trainer, although this was put into different context by Carlsen himself in an interview with the German magazine ''Der Spiegel'' stating that they would remain in contact and that he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov.

In May 2010 it was revealed that Kasparov had aided Viswanathan Anand in preparation for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov. Anand won the match 6½–5½ to retain the title.

Also in May 2010 he played 30 games simultaneously, winning each one, against players at Tel-Aviv University in Israel.

Politics

Kasparov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1984 and in 1987 was elected to the Central Committee of Komsomol. But in 1990 he left the party and in May took part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia. In 1991, Kasparov received the Keeper of the Flame award from the Center for Security Policy (a US think tank) for his contributions "to the defence of the United States and American values around the world". Kasparov was in June 1993 involved with the creation of the "Choice of Russia" bloc of parties and in 1996 took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin. In 2001 he voiced his support for the Russian television channel NTV.

In April 2007, it was asserted that Kasparov was a board member of the National Security Advisory Council of Center for Security Policy, a "non-profit, non-partisan national security organization that specializes in identifying policies, actions, and resource needs that are vital to American security". Kasparov confirmed this and added that he was removed shortly after he became aware of it. He noted that he did not know about the membership and suggested he was included in the board by an accident because he received the 1991 Keeper of the Flame award from this organization. He has vowed to "restore democracy" to Russia by toppling the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, of whom he is an outspoken critic.

Kasparov was instrumental in setting up The Other Russia, a coalition which opposes Putin's government. The Other Russia has been boycotted by the leaders of Russia's mainstream opposition parties, Yabloko and Union of Right Forces as they are concerned about its inclusion of radical nationalist and left-wing groups such as the National Bolshevik Party and former members of the Rodina party including Viktor Gerashchenko, a potential presidential candidate. But regional branches of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces have opted to take part in the coalition. Kasparov says that leaders of these parties are controlled by the Kremlin, despite the fact they are both strongly opposed to the president's policies.

On 10 April 2005, Kasparov was in Moscow at a promotional event when he was struck over the head with a chessboard he had just signed. The assailant was reported to have said "I admired you as a chess player, but you gave that up for politics" immediately before the attack. Kasparov has been the subject of a number of other episodes since.

Kasparov helped organize the Saint Petersburg Dissenters' March on 3 March 2007 and The March of the Dissenters on 24 March 2007, both involving several thousand people rallying against Putin and Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko's policies. On 14 April, he was briefly arrested by the Moscow police while heading for a demonstration, following warnings by the prosecution office on the eve of the march, stating that anyone participating risked being detained. He was held for some 10 hours and then fined and released.

He was summoned by FSB for questioning, allegedly for violations of Russian anti-extremism laws. This law was previously applied for the conviction of Boris Stomakhin.

Speaking about Kasparov, former KGB general Oleg Kalugin in 2007 remarked: "I do not talk in details—people who knew them are all dead now because they were vocal, they were open. I am quiet. There is only one man who is vocal and he may be in trouble: [former] world chess champion [Garry] Kasparov. He has been very outspoken in his attacks on Putin and I believe that he is probably next on the list."

On 30 September 2007, Kasparov entered the Russian Presidential race, receiving 379 of 498 votes at a congress held in Moscow by The Other Russia.

In October 2007, Kasparov announced his intention of standing for the Russian presidency as the candidate of the "Other Russia" coalition and vowed to fight for a "democratic and just Russia". Later that month he traveled to the United States, where he appeared on several popular television programs, which were hosted by Stephen Colbert, Wolf Blitzer, Bill Maher, and Chris Matthews.

On 24 November 2007, Kasparov and other protesters were detained by police at an Other Russia rally in Moscow. This followed an attempt by about 100 protesters to break through police lines and march on the electoral commission, which had barred Other Russia candidates from parliamentary elections. He was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and organising an unauthorized protest and given a jail sentence of five days. He was released from jail on 29 November. Putin spoke briefly about the incident in an interview with ''Time'' magazine later that year, saying: "Why did Mr. Kasparov, when arrested, speak out in English rather than Russian? When a politician works the crowd of other nations rather than the Russian nation, it tells you something."

On 12 December 2007, Kasparov announced that he had to withdraw his presidential candidacy due to inability to rent a meeting hall where at least 500 of his supporters could assemble to endorse his candidacy, as is legally required. With the deadline expiring on that date, he explained it was impossible for him to run. Kasparov's spokeswoman accused the government of using pressure to deter anyone from renting a hall for the gathering and said that the electoral commission had rejected a proposal that separate smaller gatherings be held at the same time instead of one large gathering at a meeting hall.

Kasparov is among the 34 first signatories and a key organiser of the online anti-Putin campaign "Putin must go", started on 10 March 2010.

Chess ratings achievements

Kasparov holds the record for the longest time as the No.1 rated player.

Kasparov had the highest Elo rating in the world continuously from 1986 to 2005. However, Vladimir Kramnik did ''equal'' him in the January 1996 FIDE ratings list. He was also briefly ejected from the list following his split from FIDE in 1993, but during that time he headed the rating list of the rival PCA. At the time of his retirement, he was still ranked No.1 in the world, with a rating of 2812. His rating has fallen inactive since the January 2006 rating list. In January 1990 Kasparov achieved the (then) highest FIDE rating ever, passing 2800 and breaking Bobby Fischer's old record of 2785. He has held the record for the highest rating ever achieved, ever since (as of 2011). On the July 1999 and January 2000 FIDE rating lists Kasparov reached a 2851 Elo rating, the highest rating ever achieved.

There was a time in the early 90s when Kasparov was over 2800 and the only person in the 2700s was Anatoly Karpov.

According to the unofficial Chessmetrics calculations, Kasparov was the highest rated player in the world continuously from February 1985 until October 2004. He also holds the highest all-time average rating over a 2 (2877) to 20 (2856) year period and is second to only Bobby Fischer's (2881 vs 2879) over a one-year period.

Olympiads and other major team events

Kasparov played in a total of eight Chess Olympiads. He represented the Soviet Union four times and Russia four times, following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. In his 1980 Olympiad debut, he became, at age 17, the youngest player to represent the Soviet Union or Russia at that level, a record which was broken by Vladimir Kramnik in 1992. In 82 games, he has scored (+50 =29 -3), for 78.7% and won a total of 19 medals, including team gold medals all eight times he competed. For the 1994 Moscow Olympiad, he had a significant organizational role, in helping to put together the event on short notice, after Thessaloniki canceled its offer to host, a few weeks before the scheduled dates. Kasparov's detailed Olympiad record, from, follows.

Valletta 1980, USSR 2nd reserve, 9½/12 (+8 =3 -1), team gold, board bronze;

Lucerne 1982, USSR 2nd board, 8½/11 (+6 =5 -0), team gold, board bronze;

Dubai 1986, USSR 1st board, 8½/11 (+7 =3 -1), team gold, board gold, performance gold;

Thessaloniki 1988, USSR 1st board, 8½/10 (+7 =3 -0), team gold, board gold, performance gold;

Manila 1992, Russia board 1, 8½/10 (+7 =3 -0), team gold, board gold, performance silver;

Moscow 1994, Russia board 1, 6½/10 (+4 =5 -1), team gold;

Yerevan 1996, Russia board 1, 7/9 (+5 =4 -0), team gold, board gold, performance silver;

Bled 2002, Russia board 1, 7½/9 (+6 =3 -0), team gold, board gold.

Kasparov made his international teams debut for the USSR at age 16 in the 1980 European Team Championship and played for Russia in the 1992 edition of that championship. He won a total of five medals. His detailed Euroteams record, from, follows.

Skara 1980, USSR 2nd reserve, 5½/6 (+5 =1 -0), team gold, board gold;

Debrecen 1992, Russia board 1, 6/8 (+4 =4 -0), team gold, board gold, performance silver.

Kasparov also represented the USSR once in Youth Olympiad competition, but the detailed data is incomplete at http://www.olimpbase.org/1981k/1981in.html; the site http://www.chessmetrics.com, the Garry Kasparov player file, has his individual score from that event.

Graz 1981, USSR board 1, 9/10 (+8 =2 -0), team gold.

Other records

Kasparov holds the record for most consecutive professional tournament victories, placing first or equal first in 15 individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990. The streak was broken by Vasily Ivanchuk at Linares 1991, where Kasparov placed 2nd, half a point behind him. The details of this record winning streak follow:

Frunze 1981, USSR Championship, 12½/17, tie for 1st;

Bugojno 1982, 9½/13, 1st;

Moscow 1982, Interzonal, 10/13, 1st;

Nikšić 1983, 11/14, 1st;

Brussels OHRA 1986, 7½/10, 1st;

Brussels 1987, 8½/11, tie for 1st;

Amsterdam Optiebeurs 1988, 9/12, 1st;

Belfort (World Cup) 1988, 11½/15, 1st;

Moscow 1988, USSR Championship, 11½/17, tie for 1st;

Reykjavik (World Cup) 1988, 11/17, 1st;

Barcelona (World Cup) 1989, 11/16, tie for 1st;

Skelleftea (World Cup) 1989, 9½/15, tie for 1st;

Tilburg 1989, 12/14, 1st;

Belgrade (Investbank) 1989, 9½/11, 1st;

Linares 1990, 8/11, 1st.

Kasparov won the Chess Oscar a record eleven times.

Books and other writings

Early writings

Kasparov has written a number of books on chess. He published a somewhat controversial autobiography when still in his early 20s, originally titled ''Child of Change'', later retitled ''Unlimited Challenge''. This book was subsequently updated several times after he became World Champion. Its content is mainly literary, with a small chess component of key unannotated games. He published an annotated games collection in 1985: ''Fighting Chess: My Games and Career'' and this book has also been updated several times in further editions. He also wrote a book annotating the games from his World Chess Championship 1985 victory, ''World Chess Championship Match: Moscow, 1985''.

He has annotated his own games extensively for the Yugoslav ''Chess Informant'' series and for other chess publications. In 1982, he co-authored ''Batsford Chess Openings'' with British Grandmaster Raymond Keene and this book was an enormous seller. It was updated into a second edition in 1989. He also co-authored two opening books with his trainer Alexander Nikitin in the 1980s for British publisher Batsford—on the Classical Variation of the Caro-Kann Defence and on the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence. Kasparov has also contributed extensively to the five-volume openings series ''Encyclopedia of Chess Openings''.

In 2000, Kasparov co-authored ''Kasparov Against the World: The Story of the Greatest Online Challenge'' with grandmaster Daniel King. The 202-page book analyzes the 1999 Kasparov versus the World game, and holds the record for the longest analysis devoted to a single chess game.

''My Great Predecessors'' series

In 2003, the first volume of his five-volume work ''Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors'' was published. This volume, which deals with the world chess champions Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, and some of their strong contemporaries, has received lavish praise from some reviewers (including Nigel Short), while attracting criticism from others for historical inaccuracies and analysis of games directly copied from unattributed sources. Through suggestions on the book's website, most of these shortcomings were corrected in following editions and translations. Despite this, the first volume won the British Chess Federation's Book of the Year award in 2003. Volume two, covering Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal appeared later in 2003. Volume three, covering Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky appeared in early 2004. In December 2004, Kasparov released volume four, which covers Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf, and Bent Larsen (none of these three were World Champions), but focuses primarily on Bobby Fischer. The fifth volume, devoted to the chess careers of World Champion Anatoly Karpov and challenger Viktor Korchnoi, was published in March 2006.

''Modern Chess'' series

His book ''Revolution in the 70s'' (published in March 2007) covers "the openings revolution of the 1970s–1980s" and is the first book in a new series called "Modern Chess Series", which intends to cover his matches with Karpov and selected games. The book "Revolution in the 70s" concerns the revolution in opening theory that was witnessed in that decade. Such systems as the controversial (at the time) "Hedgehog" opening plan of passively developing the pieces no further than the first three ranks are examined in great detail. Kasparov also analyzes some of the most notable games played in that period. In a section at the end of the book, top opening theoreticians provide their own "take" on the progress made in opening theory in the 1980s.

Other post-retirement writing

In 2007 he wrote ''How Life Imitates Chess'', an examination of the parallels between decision-making in chess and in the business world.

In 2008 Kasparov published a sympathetic obituary for Bobby Fischer, writing "I am often asked if I ever met or played Bobby Fischer. The answer is no, I never had that opportunity. But even though he saw me as a member of the evil chess establishment that he felt had robbed and cheated him, I am sorry I never had a chance to thank him personally for what he did for our sport."

More recently, Kasparov has criticized Fischer in a lengthy book review of a Fischer biography.

He is the chief advisor for the book publisher Everyman Chess.

Kasparov works closely with Mig Greengard and his comments can often be found on Greengard's blog.

Kasparov is currently collaborating with Max Levchin and Peter Thiel on ''The Blueprint'', a book calling for a revival of world innovation, due out in February 2012 from W. W. Norton & Company.

Chess against computers

Deep Thought, 1989

Kasparov defeated the chess computer Deep Thought in both games of a two-game match in 1989.

Deep Blue, 1996

In February 1996, IBM's chess computer Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in one game using normal time controls, in Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1. However, Kasparov was still able to gain three wins and two draws and win the match.

Deep Blue, 1997

In May 1997, an updated version of Deep Blue defeated Kasparov 3½–2½ in a highly publicised six-game match. The match was even after five games but Kasparov was crushed in Game 6. This was the first time a computer had ever defeated a world champion in match play. A documentary film was made about this famous match-up entitled ''Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine''.

Kasparov claimed that several factors weighed against him in this match. In particular, he was denied access to Deep Blue's recent games, in contrast to the computer's team that could study hundreds of Kasparov's.

After the loss Kasparov said that he sometimes saw deep intelligence and creativity in the machine's moves, suggesting that during the second game, human chess players, in contravention of the rules, intervened. IBM denied that it cheated, saying the only human intervention occurred between games. The rules provided for the developers to modify the program between games, an opportunity they said they used to shore up weaknesses in the computer's play revealed during the course of the match. Kasparov requested printouts of the machine's log files but IBM refused, although the company later published the logs on the Internet. Kasparov demanded a rematch, but IBM declined and retired Deep Blue, which has been viewed by Kasparov as covering up evidence of tampering during the game.

Kasparov's loss to Deep Blue inspired the creation of a new game called Arimaa.

Deep Junior, 2003

In January 2003, he engaged in a six game classical time control match with a $1 million prize fund which was billed as the FIDE "Man vs. Machine" World Championship, against Deep Junior. The engine evaluated three million positions per second. After one win each and three draws, it was all up to the final game. After reaching a decent position Kasparov offered a draw, which was soon accepted by the Deep Junior team. Asked why he offered the draw, Kasparov said he feared making a blunder. Originally planned as an annual event, the match was not repeated.

X3D Fritz, 2003

In November 2003, he engaged in a four-game match against the computer program X3D Fritz, using a virtual board, 3D glasses and a speech recognition system. After two draws and one win apiece, the X3D Man-Machine match ended in a draw. Kasparov received $175,000 for the result and took home the golden trophy. Kasparov continued to criticize the blunder in the second game that cost him a crucial point. He felt that he had outplayed the machine overall and played well. "I only made one mistake but unfortunately that one mistake lost the game."

Notable chess games

Garry Kasparov vs Lajos Portisch, Niksic 1983 · Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation. Petrosian Attack (E12),1-0 Beast from Baku hunting his prey.

Anatoli Karpov vs Garry Kasparov, Karpov-Kasparov World Championship Match 1985·Sicilian Defense: Paulsen Variation. Gary Gambit (B44), 0-1 An extremely brilliant and creative masterpiece from Kasparov dubbed as "The Brisbane Bombshell".

Garry Kasparov vs Vladimir Kramnik, It (cat.19) 1994 · Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan. Sveshnikov Variation Chelyabinsk Variation (B33), 1-0 A gladiator ride from Kasparov.

Garry Kasparov vs Viswanathan Anand,Kasparov-Anand World Championship Match 1995 · Spanish Game: Open Variations. Karpov Gambit (C80),1-0 A world champion to future champion a drop of Garry Kasparov toxine.

Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov, It (cat.17), Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) 1999 · Pirc Defense: General (B06),1-0 One of the most famous games of Kasparov's account. Widely known as "Kasparov's Immortal". According to sources this is the most memorable game to Kasparov.

Garry Kasparov vs X3D Fritz (Computer), Man-Machine World Chess Championship 2003 · Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Meran Variation (D45),1-0 Taming the silicon beast. Highlighted game from Man Vs Machine contest.

Books

''The Test of Time (Russian Chess)'', (1986, Pergamon Pr)

''World Chess Championship Match: Moscow, 1985'' (1986, Everyman Chess)

''Child of Change: An Autobiography'' (1987, Hutchinson)

''London-Leningrad Championship Games'' (1987, Everyman Chess)

''Unlimited Challenge'' (1990, Grove Pr)

''The Sicilian Scheveningen'' (1991, B.T. Batsford Ltd)

''The Queen's Indian Defence: Kasparov System'' (1991, B.T. Batsford Ltd)

''Kasparov Versus Karpov, 1990'' (1991, Everyman Chess)

''Kasparov on the King's Indian'' (1993, B.T. Batsford Ltd)

''Garry Kasparov's Chess Challenge'' (1996, Everyman Chess)

''Lessons in Chess'' (1997, Everyman Chess)

''Kasparov Against the World: The Story of the Greatest Online Challenge'' (2000, KasparovChess Online)

''My Great Predecessors Part I'' (2003, Everyman Chess)

''My Great Predecessors Part II'' (2003, Everyman Chess)

''Checkmate!: My First Chess Book'' (2004, Everyman Mindsports)

''My Great Predecessors Part III'' (2004, Everyman Chess)

''My Great Predecessors Part IV'' (2004, Everyman Chess)

''My Great Predecessors Part V'' (2006, Everyman Chess)

''How Life Imitates Chess'', (2007, William Heinemann Ltd)

''Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 1: Revolution in the 70s'', (2007, Everyman Chess)

''Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 2: Kasparov vs Karpov 1975–1985'', (2008, Everyman Chess)

''Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 3: Kasparov vs Karpov 1986–1987'', (2009, Everyman Chess)

''Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 4: Kasparov vs Karpov 1988–2009'', (2010, Everyman Chess)

See also

Kasparov versus the World

List of people who have beaten Garry Kasparov in chess

List of chess games between Kasparov and Kramnik

Committee 2008

Notes

Further reading

External links

Grandmaster Games Database – Garry Kasparov

The Other Russia, Civic Coalition for Democracy – Official site

Другая Россия – Official site Сайт «Марш несогласных» – March of the Discontented Итоговое заявление участников конференции «Другая Россия» Concluding statement by the participants, www.kasparov.ru

United Civil Front, a civic political movement to ensure Democracy in the Russian Federation, initiated by Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov, "Man of the Year?", ''OpinionJournal'', 23 December 2007

Edward Winter, List of Books About Fischer and Kasparov

Garry Kasparov's LiveJournal

The Chess Master and the Computer article by Kasparov from ''The New York Review of Books''

{{s-ttl| title = FIDE World Chess Champion | years = 1985–1993 }} {{s-ttl| title = Classical World Chess Champion | years = 1985–2000 }}

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{{Infobox person |name=Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher |image=|image=1990 CPA 6265.jpg |alt= |caption=Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel on the 1990 USSR commemorative stamp. |birth_date=July 11, 1903 |birth_place=Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom |death_date=November 16, 1971 |death_place=Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |other_names=Rudolf Ivanovich Abel |known_for=Cold War Russian Spy |occupation=Language Expert) was a noted Soviet intelligence officer. He is generally better known by the alias Rudolf Abel, which he adopted on his arrest. His last name is sometimes given as Fischer; his patronymic is sometimes less exactly transliterated as Genrikovich.

Early life

He was born in England at 142 Clara Street, Benwell, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1903. His parents, ethnic Germans from Russia, had been active in the revolutionary movement in Russia, and had fled to England in 1901. His father, Genrikh (Heinrich), was a keen Bolshevik who took part in clandestine operations shipping arms and literature from the North East coast. Genrikh, published a book ''V Rossii i v Anglii'' (''"In Russia and in England"'') in 1922 detailing his life in Newcastle.

Willie grew up in Whitley Bay, to where the family moved, and attended the Whitley Bay and Monkseaton Grammar school (Now Whitley Bay High School). The family lived at several addresses, mostly in Lish Avenue. Their last residence was at No. 18. Willie became an apprentice draughtsman at Swan Hunter Wallsend, in 1918, but attended evening classes at Rutherford College and matriculated for London University in 1920. The Fisher family left Whitley Bay, however, for the newly established Soviet Union in 1921, where Genrikh died in 1935.

Early career

After the family's return to the Soviet Union in 1921 Fisher worked as a translator for Comintern. During his military service in 1925-1926 he was trained as a radio operator. He worked briefly in Soviet Military Intelligence and was then recruited by the OGPU, a predecessor of the KGB in 1927. He worked for them as a radio operator in Norway, Turkey, Britain, and France then returned to Russia in 1936 as head of a school which trained radio operators destined for duty in illegal residences.

He narrowly escaped the Great Purges. Besides being from England, a close relative had been accused of being a Trotskyite. He escaped prosecution but was dismissed from the NKVD in 1938. During the Second World War he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines. In 1944-1945 he was in charge of the funkspiel component of Operation Beresino (Operation Scherhorn in English sources).

In the Secret Service

In 1946 he again entered Secret Service and was trained as a spy for entry into the United States. He traveled to Canada under a false identity, then entered the United States on November 17, 1947. He adopted the name of Emil Robert Goldfus (the real Goldfus had died at the age of 14 months). The Soviets had constructed an elaborate legend for Goldfus, a fictitious biography of his life from 1902 to 1947.

As cover for his illegal residence, he opened an artist's studio in the Orvington Studios in Brooklyn, although he had only minimal artistic talent. He represented himself as a retired photofinisher to the other artists with whom he came into contact. He made friends with a small group of younger men, mostly artists who shared his preferences for realistic art. He made no attempt to sell paintings, but continued working on his technique. His friends found him intelligent and knowledgeable, but somewhat secretive; for example, he never disclosed where he lived. He expressed admiration for the Russian artist Isaak Levitan.

His job as resident was to recruit and supervise agents who gathered intelligence information. He was given control of a pre-existing group of agents which included Lona Cohen and Morris Cohen, who are believed to have been the couriers for the Rosenberg/Greenglass/Fuchs nuclear spy ring, and who later operated in Britain as Peter and Helen Kroger.

Fisher is not known to ever have had any contact with the Communist Party USA. As a part of his legend, he sometimes fabricated stories about earlier days as a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest during the time of the Wobblies.

Capture and later

Fisher was captured by the FBI in New York on June 21, 1957, partially as the result of the defection of his assistant Reino Häyhänen, in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case (referring to Fisher's transporting of microfilm inside a hollow nickel). He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for espionage.

When Fisher was arrested, the hotel room and photo studio that he lived in contained multiple modern espionage equipment items: cameras and film for producing microdots, cipher pads, cuff links, hollow shaving brush, shortwave radios, and numerous "trick" containers.

Fisher was brought to trial in New York City Federal Court and indicted as a Russian spy, in October, 1957, on three counts:

Conspiracy to transmit defense information to the Soviet Union (count one)

Conspiracy to obtain defense information (count two)

Conspiracy to act in the United States as an agent of a foreign government without notification to the Secretary of State (count three)

Häyhänen testified against Fisher at the trial.

On October 25, 1957, the jury found Fisher guilty on all three counts. Judge Mortimer W. Byers sentenced him, sentences to be served concurrently, on November 15, 1957, count one: 30 years' imprisonment; count two: 10 years' imprisonment and $2,000 fine; count three: 5 years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine.

On February 10, 1962, he was exchanged for Central Intelligence Agency U-2 pilot Gary Powers and an American student Frederic Pryor at the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and West-Berlin, Germany. After his return to Moscow, he continued to work as a trainer for the KGB and was rewarded with the Order of Lenin.

Rudolf Abel was the alias Fisher adopted on his arrest, which signaled his capture to the Soviet Government. The alias was the name of another, less well known NKVD agent, who had once shared a flat with Fisher. The real Abel was born in Latvia in 1900 and died in 1955, but not much seems to be publicly known about his career.

Fisher died of lung cancer in 1971 and was buried next to his father in the New Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow. His gravestone displays both of his names. A group of KGB veterans celebrated his centenary at the graveside in 2003.

See also

Hollow Nickel Case

Francis Gary Powers

Footnotes

Further reading

Andrew, Christopher (1999). ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB''. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-00310-9.

Arthey, Vin (2005). ''Like Father Like Son, A Dynasty of Spies''. St. Ermin's Press, Trafalgar Square. ISBN 1-903608-07-4.

:This is the current definitive reference on Vilyam Fisher. The book shows that from 1930 to 1960, Fisher was connected to virtually everything: Alexander Orlov, Cambridge Five, Rosenberg Ring, Volunteer Group, Perseus. (Laes)

Bernikow, Louise (1970). ''Abel''. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-12593-4 (1982) Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-30212-5

Donovan, James B. (1964). ''Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel''. New York: Atheneum.

Hearn, Chester G. (2006). ''Spies & Espionage A Directory''. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, California. ISBN 978-1-59223-508-7

Sudoplatov, Pavel and; Anatoli Sudoplatov, Jerrold L. Schecter, Leona Schecter (1994). ''Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, a Soviet Spymaster''. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-77352-2 (1995) Lightning Source. ISBN 0-316-82115-2

West, Nigel (1990). ''Games of Intelligence: The Classified Conflict of International Espionage.'' New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-57811-5

Whittell, Giles. (2010). ''A True Story of the Cold War: Bridge of Spies''. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85720-163-8 or ISBN 978-0-85720-164-5

External links

FBI - "Hollow Nickel Case"

Biography at the website of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service

Washington Times: ''"U.S. intel braces for Kremlin blowback as result of spy case"'' by Bill Gertz Posted: June 30, 2010. Retrieved: December 29, 2010.

Category:Soviet Cold War spymasters Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Russian and Soviet Germans Category:Soviet people imprisoned abroad Category:English people of German descent Category:1903 births Category:1971 deaths Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Cancer deaths in the Soviet Union Category:Soviet spies against the United States Category:People of the KGB

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