Himal Gusain: The IM on the Express Line
Himal Gusain, known to the online chess world as Rajdhani_Exxpress, is an International Master with a username borrowed from India's famous fast trains. The branding was a promise, and the ratings eventually kept it. Gusain plays long, grinding chess with the patience of someone who knows the journey matters more than the timetable, then occasionally wins on time anyway, just to keep the train metaphor alive.
From 1100 to the Stratosphere
Every great chess story needs a humble beginning, and Gusain's arrived in March 2020 in the form of five blitz games at roughly 1100 strength. Then April happened. Ninety games and a few hundred rating points later, the account was knocking on 2400. The rest of the climb was steadier, peaking at 2865 (2024-12-20) in December 2024, with a bullet best of 2761 to boot.
The Great Conversion to 1.b3
Gusain began as a devoted 1.e4 player, then underwent one of the most complete opening conversions this side of a religious experience. Since 2022, the first move has been almost exclusively the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, deployed in well over 1,600 blitz games with a solidly winning record. With Black, the weapon of choice is the Scandinavian Defense, played more than 1,700 times in blitz alone.
The style underneath the openings is pure endurance. Around 88% of Gusain's games reach an endgame, wins average a marathon 86 moves, and the early resignation rate sits at roughly 1%. Losing a piece barely dents the win rate, and the comeback rate north of 91% suggests the resignation option has simply been unplugged.
Rapid Is the Preferred Weapon
Despite the enormous blitz ledger, Gusain's preferred time control is Rapid, and the numbers back the taste: only a few dozen rapid games have been played, but the peak there reached 2265 (2023-01-29), and the strength-adjusted win rate in rapid is comfortably the best of any time class. When the Rajdhani slows down, it apparently wins more.
Familiar Faces on the Platform
- Alfonso Jose Alfaro Rojas is the most frequent travel companion, with 69 meetings and a narrow edge for Gusain.
- Rasan04 has drawn 15 of 62 encounters, making this rivalry the chess equivalent of two trains stuck at the same signal.
- staroftheyear holds the title of chief nemesis at 19 wins against 33 losses.
- mt104, by contrast, is the favorite destination: 34 wins against 15 losses.
Quirks of the Schedule
The data says Gusain plays best at 4:00 in the morning and worst around 11:00 PM, which raises questions about what exactly is happening at 11:00 PM. Sunday is the strongest day of the week, Wednesday the shakiest. May 2023 featured 1,771 blitz games in a single month, a pace that deserves its own chapter in any sports science textbook. The longest winning streak ran to 11 games; the longest losing streak hit 13, which Gusain presumably fixed the same way the Rajdhani fixes delays: by simply departing again at full speed.
Career Highlights
- International Master title from FIDE.
- Blitz peak of 2865 in December 2024, sustained 2700+ play across multiple years.
- Bullet peak of 2761 reached in September 2026.
- Over 10,000 analyzed games, with the rook as the most trusted checking piece.
- A current winning streak of 8 games and counting, because the express does not stop at every station.