FM Ray Robson

• USCF Rating: 2427
• Openings : +0
• Tactical Ability : +75
• Positional Play : +25
• Endgame Technique : +0
• Speed Chess : ?
• Consistency : 6
• Tenacity : 7
• Overall Aggressiveness : 7
• Against Strong Players : 8
• Against Weak Players : 7

Strengths: Ray is moving up very quickly and is extremely well rounded for someone his age, but he still probably stands out in the tactical department. His openings are very good for his age too, but probably no better than the adult 2400 player.

Weaknesses: It's hard to point out any weaknesses in his case, but perhaps Ray is not as consistent as he could be. At the UTD GM Invitational in 2007 he started extremely well but faded towards the end. Perhaps energy levels could also be a weakness for him right now.

Amusing Story:

At the North American FIDE invitational tournament Robson played my good friend, IM Dave Vigorito, in what was the critical game for the entire tournament (they were the leaders). Dave decided to play the Lowenthal Sicilian, basically for the first time in his life. Dave had just done a lecture on the Lowenthal at ChessLecture.com a week before the tournament, so it was fresh in his mind. Unfortunately for Dave, Ray has a ChessLecture account and saw the lecture! Ray proceeded to play the most critical line and beat Dave quite easily.

Reason for this song choice:
I picked this song because I can just imagine Ray training like 10 hours a day (like Rocky). I almost picked "Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins as Ray seems like a nice little kid but will tear your heart out, but the lyrics didn't quite fit.