Roman Goldin: FIDE Master of Speed and Serenity
Roman Goldin, known to the chess world as Shivananda1964, is a FIDE Master whose love for the game is measured in thousands of online battles. While his title was earned in classical halls, his natural habitat is the blitz arena. Preferring bullet and blitz time controls, Goldin has played more than 12,700 analyzed games, collected over 6,250 blitz wins, and turned late nights and early mornings into a laboratory of fast chess.
His username, Shivananda1964, hints at a calm center. His play, however, is all action. Goldin opens with 1.e4 in the vast majority of his games, and from there he invites opponents into deep, messy, and endlessly entertaining fights.
The Repertoire of a Loyyal Warrior
Goldin's opening habits are strikingly consistent. As White, he almost always plays 1.e4 and steers toward energetic lines. As Black, he is fearless, stepping into the Barness Defense nearly a thousand times and handling the Sicilian Defense with confidence. His most reliable scoring weapon is the Scotch Game, where his win rate soars past 57 percent.
Yet his favorite path to victory is not a quick knockout. With an endgame frequency near 80 percent, Goldin outlasts, outmaneuvers, and outgrinds. He lets the dust settle, then picks off the pieces.
A typical Scotch battleground looks like this:
A Marthon Played in Seconds
The rating trail Roman has left behind reads like a mountain range: steep climbs, sudden valleys, and peaks that touch the sky. In August 2026, his blitz rating reached 2642 (2026-08-25), and his bullet form has touched 2439 (2025-01-11). Somewhere along the way he also posted a 14-game winning streak and survived a 12-game losing skid, proving that resilience is the real superpower.
Rivalries, Repeats, and Redemption
No biography of Roman Goldin is complete without naming his chessboard shadow: jiejio. The two have clashed 55 times, with Goldin holding 24 wins, 29 losses, and 2 draws. It is the kind of rivalry that keeps a player humble and hungry.
He also has a friendly edge over dpopadic, leading their series 16 to 13, and against bailnojail he has built a dominant 15 to 6 record. When Giulio Fregonese logs in, Goldin knows it will be a war.
The Comeback King of the Clock
Goldin is dangerous when ahead, but he is almost as dangerous when behind. His comeback rate is close to 86 percent, and he wins just under half of his games even after losing a piece. His one-sided loss rate sits at barely over 1 percent, meaning he nearly always drags the game into deep water.
His best performances arrive at 5 a.m., when the rest of the world is asleep and only the clock is awake. He wins more than 61 percent of his games in that early hour, and his queen delivers the first check more often than any other piece.
Against lower-rated opponents, Goldin wins over 62 percent of the time. Against higher-rated players, he still steals nearly 30 percent of the points, which explains why his blitz win rate stays remarkably balanced just above 50 percent.
A Legacy Written in Lightning
Roman Goldin is proof that a FIDE Master can find endless joy in a five-minute game. His thousands of blitz games, his loyalty to clever openings, and his refusal to resign early make him a beloved online figure. He has earned the title, the rating peaks, and the respect of rivals.
- Favorite first move: 1.e4
- Longest winning streak: 14 games
- Longest losing streak: 12 games
- Most loyal opening: the Barnes Defense with nearly 950 blitz appearances
If you meet Shivananda1964 in the loby, expect a battle. Do not blink. Roman Goldin certainly will not.