Robert Stein - The FIDE Master with a Midas Touch (Mostly on Blitz!)
Known in the online chess realms as TalismanTate777, Robert Stein is a fierce competitor whose battles on the 64 squares are watched and admired by many. Awarded the prestigious title of FIDE Master by the international chess federation, Robert carries the legacy of classic titled play with a dash of modern blitz wizardry.
Rating Highlights and Playing Strength
While Robert’s classical (Daily) rating has modest peaks (maxing out at 467), that's just the calm surface. His real strength shines in the faster-paced blitz and bullet categories — his blitz peak rating smashed through the 2800 mark (a spectacular 2835 in April 2025!), and bullet chess? Well, he topped out beyond 2800 there too (2819 in early 2024). His rapid rating, though less often spotlighted, still boasts a solid peak near 2600.
Playing Style & Psychological Edge
With a relatively low early resignation rate (0.86%), Robert prefers to fight to the bitter end, often engaging in long, strategic battles averaging around 80 moves per game. His tenacity shows in an impressive comeback rate of 81.57% — if he loses a piece, he almost half the time finds a way back to victory.
Robert enjoys playing as White slightly more — his White win rate stands at about 55%, while as Black he’s close behind at around 49%. However, even the best stumble sometimes, as evidenced by his tilt factor of 12. Luckily, his best time to wreak havoc is midnight (00:00), proving he's a nocturnal tactical beast.
Win-Loss & Opponents
Across all time controls, Robert boasts a commendable record — nearly 1300 wins in blitz alone against just over 1000 losses, and a strong bullet record of 290 wins to 129 losses. He’s battled a wide array of opponents, including several tough rivalries like against "witik" (played 20 times) and "topg_777" (17 clashes) — no stranger to intense competition.
Opening Repertoire
Robert’s love for the classics includes the Italian Game Knight Attack and a secret weapon called "Top Secret" (which mystifies opponents as much as it intrigues spectators). Against no opening at all—yes, that mysterious “Unknown Opening”—he still manages a solid 50-67% win rate depending on the time control. Clearly, he’s comfortable wading into the unknown and coming out victorious.
Recent Highlights: The PGN Chronicles
One of his latest victories is a flashy win as White against "Maitreia" in June 2025, winning by resignation after a complex English Opening battle where he masterfully exploited his opponent’s weaknesses. The game ended with a queen-and-rook offensive that seemed inevitable once unleashed.
Humor Corner
Legend says Robert once tried resigning early—but then thought, “Why give my opponent a free cookie?” and carried on battling, often catching his opponent napping at the board. Also known for his midnight energy, some speculate his true secret weapon isn't openings or tactics—it’s an endless supply of midnight snacks and caffeine.
In Summary
Robert Stein is the kind of player who reminds us that chess isn’t just about trophies or titles (though he has a few shiny ones). It's about persistence, adaptation, and occasionally throwing curveball openings labeled as “Top Secret” to keep everyone guessing. Whether blitzing through 2000+ games in the shadow of the clock or holding long endgames deep into the night, Robert embodies the spirit of a fighting chess master with a playful heart.
What You're Doing Well
Robert, your recent games show several strong qualities that are contributing to your successes in blitz chess:
- Opening Preparation: You have a solid command over complex openings such as the English Opening: Agincourt Defense and the Diemer-Duhm Gambit. Your win rates in these openings are above 50%, reflecting good understanding and preparation.
- Endgame Technique: Your ability to convert advantages into wins, as seen in your last few games, indicates good endgame skills. You patiently build up pressure and execute decisive attacks.
- Positional Awareness: In several games, you effectively control key squares and coordinate your pieces well, especially knights and bishops in the middlegame.
- Time Management: While you occasionally lost on time, many wins came with strong, timely decisions, showing you recognize when to accelerate play.
Areas for Improvement
Despite your strong play, here are some areas to focus on to improve your blitz performance and rating trend:
- Reduce Time Trouble Losses: There are multiple recent games lost on time. Improving your clock management in fast time controls is crucial — consider practicing faster decision-making for critical moments and using pre-move options carefully.
- Opening Symmetry: Your performance in English Opening: Symmetrical Variation lags behind, with a win rate around 34%. Working on new ideas or alternative systems could help you avoid pitfalls in this line.
- Handling Pressure in Complex Positions: Some losses involved tactical oversights in sharp positions. Reviewing these critical moments to spot missed tactics or better defensive resources will build resilience.
- Consistent Rating Recovery: Your rating over recent months shows fluctuations with periods of decline (-92 last month, -204 last 3 months). Focus on reviewing losses and learning from mistakes might help stabilize and improve your overall trend.
Recommended Next Steps
- Targeted Opening Study: Deepen your understanding of your weaker lines like the English Symmetrical. Use puzzle rush or thematic tactics to reinforce tactical vision in these positions.
- Time Pressure Drills: Play training games with shorter time controls to get used to making quicker decisions without blunders, and practice avoiding time trouble.
- Analyze Your Losses: Review your recent losing games, especially where tactical mistakes or misjudgments occurred, to identify recurring patterns.
- Endgame Practice: Continue to build your already solid endgame technique by studying key theoretical endgames and practical conversion techniques.
- Mental Resilience: Focus on maintaining calm during losing streaks or tough positions to reduce errors and unnecessary losses.
Maintaining this balanced approach between technical training and practical play should help improve your rating trend and overall performance in blitz chess.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chessbrah TV | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Levy Rozman | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| David Haydon | 3W / 1L / 1D | |
| Dmitry Gordievsky | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Savva Vetokhin | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| singuiar_brain_ceil | 2W / 0L / 0D | |
| TaeKwondoKing | 5W / 4L / 0D | |
| zhi-er | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| swbxx | 1W / 1L / 0D | |
| velimirovich | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vjacheslav Weetik | 9W / 11L / 3D | |
| topg_777 | 15W / 1L / 1D | |
| aliyah_tie | 7W / 0L / 7D | |
| fin | 7W / 6L / 1D | |
| dobbytheelfhouse | 7W / 5L / 1D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2908 | 2808 | 2278 | |
| 2024 | 2764 | 2731 | ||
| 2023 | 2807 | 2738 | 2284 | 467 |
| 2022 | 1187 | 2584 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 310W / 299L / 62D | 253W / 343L / 84D | 86.5 |
| 2024 | 264W / 241L / 49D | 221W / 261L / 76D | 85.8 |
| 2023 | 290W / 140L / 42D | 277W / 150L / 46D | 85.4 |
| 2022 | 146W / 23L / 13D | 137W / 41L / 10D | 73.1 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 229 | 103 | 101 | 25 | 45.0% |
| English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System | 125 | 61 | 53 | 11 | 48.8% |
| Diemer-Duhm Gambit (DDG): 4...f5 | 120 | 63 | 47 | 10 | 52.5% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 107 | 56 | 37 | 14 | 52.3% |
| QGD: 3.Nc3 Bb4 | 93 | 47 | 31 | 15 | 50.5% |
| Döry Defense | 73 | 30 | 34 | 9 | 41.1% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 72 | 21 | 41 | 10 | 29.2% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 67 | 37 | 25 | 5 | 55.2% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 67 | 34 | 29 | 4 | 50.8% |
| Australian Defense | 65 | 38 | 20 | 7 | 58.5% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Attack | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Amar Gambit | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0% |
| Bird Opening | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Australian Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Elephant Gambit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Philidor Defense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| French Defense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Center Game: Berger Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 39 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 69.2% |
| Australian Defense | 28 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 64.3% |
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 27 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 51.9% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 23 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 43.5% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 59.1% |
| English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 66.7% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 17 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 41.2% |
| English Opening: Symmetrical Variation | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 66.7% |
| English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.3% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QGD Tarrasch: 4.cxd5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 39 | 2 |
| Losing | 12 | 0 |