Motivated by algebraic geometry, I've come up with a purely
combinatorial definition within the theory of matroids. 
The question is: is this concept known?


If you like matroids but not algebraic geometry, skip to the definition below.


Let $n\choose k$ denote the collection of all $k$-element subsets of
$[1,n]$ (rather than the number thereof). We can and will identify
this collection both with the set of $T$-fixed points on the
$k$-Grassmannian $Gr(k,n)$, where $T$ is the $n$-torus that acts
(unfaithfully), and also with the set of Plücker coordinates.


Let $C \subseteq {n\choose k}$ be a subcollection. Then, following 
Neil White, we can define a subscheme $\Pi\_C$ of $Gr(k,n)$ by killing
all Plücker coordinates $p\_S, S \notin C$. This subscheme is $T$-invariant,
and its $T$-fixed points are exactly $C$.


Easy fact: if $\Pi\_C$ is irreducible, then $C$ is a matroid. The
non-Pappus matroid shows the converse is false. (This is my own motivation
for matroids -- they serve as combinatorial stand-ins for subvarieties
of Grassmannians.)


I'm interested in the smooth points of $\Pi\_M$, where $M$ is a matroid.
Perhaps the most efficient way to describe $M$ is by listing
its connected flats $F$, and for each, giving the rank. (Saying that
$rank(F) \leq r$ means that for each $S$ that intersects $F$ too much,
$p\_F = 0$. I'm pretty sure that the connected flats gives the 
shortest list of $F$s to give all the $S$.)



> 
> If $M \subseteq {n\choose k}$ is a matroid, call $\lambda \in M$
>  a *smooth base* if for any connected flat $F$, $rank(F) = |\lambda \cap F|$.
> 
> 
> 


Note that $\geq$ is required for $\lambda$ to be a base at all.
It's pretty easy to prove that $\lambda$ is a smooth point of $\Pi\_M$
iff $\lambda$ is a smooth base of $M$ in the sense above.



> 
> Is this concept known to matroid theorists? Is this characterization
>  of smooth points known to anybody?
> 
> 
> 


Example: let $M$ be the Schubert matroid for a $\lambda \in {n\choose k}$,
i.e. for each $i \notin \lambda, i+1 \in \lambda$, we have a connected flat
$[1,i]$ with rank $|[1,i] \cap \lambda|$. Then $\lambda$ is a smooth
base of $M$. And indeed, $\lambda$ is the point in the Bruhat cell whose
closure is the Schubert variety $\Pi\_M$.



Smooth bases of matroids
I hope this question gets a good answer. In the mean time I'll mention a concept I've seen which seems somewhat related to your condition of smoothness.


When you have a matroid $\mathcal M$ with a base $B$ with the property that all cyclic flats $F$ are spanned by $F\cap B$, this is called a fundamental transversal matroid. The base $B$ is called a fundamental base. 


Schubert matroids are a special case of fundamental transversal matroids, and the base $\lambda$ is a fundamental base in the sense above. At some point I was convinced that your definition implies at least that the matroid is transversal, but now I'm not so sure anymore.


Some further characterizations in terms of some rank inequalities, or affine representations on simplices are proved in ["Characterizations of transversal and fundamental transversal matroids"](http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.3435) by J.E. Bonin, J.P.S. Kung and A. de Mier. See also [these slides](http://home.gwu.edu/~jbonin/Fundamental.pdf) for pictures. I should also point out that I haven't seen the geometric connection which you explain being mentioned in the literature on fundamental transversal matroids.


