Artem Boykov, also known as KobRa, has passed away.

In 2001, I went to "MIF" to see Manyak. In the first round, I was matched against a nice, thin (!) guy, a recent high school graduate. Nevertheless, I was the newcomer, while this was already not the first tournament for my opponent. We played a random map, face-to-face, as wizards (!!), and nobody knew anything about templates... I remember a lot from that game, which lasted all night, as if it were yesterday. That's how my career as a Heroes of Might and Magic 3 player and our friendship with Artem began, a friendship that neither political disagreements nor teasing about "Zenit will soon be in the Champions League" could shake. When I started organizing club championships myself, Kobra was one of the few who played in all of them without exception. And he came to all the CIS tournaments, except for the last one, and was always at the center of the events - heroic, football, poker.
Like Vik, I didn't suspect how bad things were. In the fall, we played chess on lichess, chatted in private messages - Artem didn't say a word about his problems. Therefore, I think we shouldn't delve into this topic now. Helping the family is a good thing, even if it's just a little - let the boys see how many friends their dad had.
Someday, the time will come, we will meet THERE, and I will say: "You had to hold on to second place here too! Couldn't you let the old man go ahead?" I know he won't be offended...