Hi Alexchess,
oh yes, I know him.
Martin sent me in the past a beta version of Arena with the comment ...
Frank, I hope my Arena software you will like.
What do you think, should I make Arena available?
And we start our teamwork with my faithful helper "Michael Diosi" from Winboard times!
Better protocol features, opening book features, eng-eng features ... I told him, let us start to create with the software you have the ultimate GUI for engine-engine lovers. Feature for feature Martin added on GUI positions I like. After a short time, I start with the Arena web site and collected 250 beta testers around the World. We open a fora at first Martin dislike. Because he told me, for a programmer not a big deal that so many others like to dicuss about my mistakes. I told him, that is great Martin because you are a human and each of the Arena users should be sit in the first position with a direct contact to us. Million of downloads, after a short time 800 members in the own development fora. Many helpers and a big success. The chess guys from Argentina are very "chess-crazy", the French engine programmers also and helps a lot. Polish computer bild "It-magazine" Arena is on place 3 from free available software (a chess programm on 3 from all freeware software, a sensation). Same for German it-newspager. On a daily newspager in Argentina Arena is on the front page ... on this day around 41.000 hits from Argentina on Arena site and so one ... more and more people found the way to the community and had a lot of fun with our project. Daily contacts to good known actors, singer, politician, skier, football player and trainer, chess grandmaster and so one around the World. Downloads from more as 200 countrys. Thinking on mails from Niue from a police station ... people around the World ... Michael Diosi made the own link collection better and the link to Arena site can be found on thousands of chess sites around the World. Only the German "DSB" gave the information ... we have a connection with Chessbase and that is more interesting as the connection to a freeware project. Not all was nice what we got!
A great connection to DGT, we offer Chess960 at first after a wish from DGT "Alfred". So many programmers and users help to make Arena stronger and stronger. Martin added all of my older ideas, it was many years a job from 5-6 hours daily to work around the project for myself. And all this for nothing ... not for me because "I like computer chess". Support, website, ideas for the GUI, test for the GUI, the contacts to other webmasters / newspaper and so one.
3 years later (we wrote mails daily) I had the first personal contact with Martin Blume.
I can say about him ... Martin is a 100% and very friendly programmer.
Give him an idea and he is able to added it in Arena much better and more interesting as I have it in my brain at first. Martin need strong testers and an order to do this one or this one. Not a person like me to write big messages in bad English. He dislike to be in the focus. What I do around Arena in the past is not that Martin like. Martin like to made programmings and dislike all the publicity around it. But without the publicity and all the collected helpers never Arena can be have success in the past.
Best
Frank
Arena is a software from one programmer but with ideas and great help from more as 500 persons!
Really a great project from our strong chess community!
For 12-15 years, today other things are in the focus in computer chess.
So, I like the people from Poland, France, Argentina a lot because they do more for the project as people from other countrys after all the mail contacts aroud Arena in all the years. So Martin made the programming and Michael Diosi the Admins from the forum and I all the other things around this big project ... Martin have no time for it, need the complete time for the programmings around Arena.
