chessgames.com
 
Chessgames.com User Profile Chessforum
Fusilli
Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Nov-21-09
Mariano Sana, born in Argentina, living in the US since 1995. I am an associate professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sociology.... Previously, I was at Louisiana State University (2003-2009).

I am currently doing research on "chess migration"... See my forum below (check out the very first message where I posted what the research is about), and thanks for posting anything!

I won the Louisiana State Championship in 2007--my claim to fame! :) I was seeded third or fourth and it was really nice to win. My playing wasn't that great, but I was mentally well prepared, and had a touch of luck.

My USCF rating is 2204 as of October 2009.

I admire nuanced and forceful strategic play, from the opening to the endgame. Kasparov was the greatest. I admire and respect Anand. Topalov and Smyslov are up there on my list. I also like Ivanchuk, Short, and Lautier. And Nezhmetdinov's craziness.

>> Click here to see Fusilli's game collections.

Chessgames.com Full Member

   Fusilli has kibitzed 506 times to chessgames   [more...]
   Nov-18-09 Fusilli chessforum
 
Fusilli: Chess boxing! http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/16696...
 
   Nov-17-09 Panno vs Huebner, 1970
 
Fusilli: Panno made it look so simple here. He completely outplayed Huebner.
 
   Nov-15-09 Panno vs Petrosian, 1979
 
Fusilli: What a crazy game. The way Panno played the opening seems strange, but Petrosian often made their opponents' opening play look strange. In the end, White loses because of his pawn structure on the queenside...
 
   Nov-15-09 Panno vs Pachman, 1955
 
Fusilli: <twinlark> The game was probably adjourned, after which Pachman resigned without resuming it.
 
   Nov-15-09 Spassky vs Panno, 1976
 
Fusilli: But what about 37.Rf6+ Kxg4 38.Rf2?
 
   Nov-15-09 hms123 chessforum (replies)
 
...
 
   Nov-14-09 Panno vs Najdorf, 1969
 
Fusilli: If 42.Kg2, Qd2 43.Qxd7 (43.Qf3?? Ne1+) Qxf2+ 44.Kh3 [DIAGRAM] Nxf4+! 45.gxf4 Qf3+ 46.Kh4 Qxf4+ 47.Kh3 Qf3+ 48.Kh4 h6! and it's over [DIAGRAM]
 
   Nov-14-09 Najdorf vs Panno, 1955
 
Fusilli: <Mateo> 40.Nd2 would have produced the same position for the second time, not the third (the first one being after White's 36th move). I just read a book about Najdorf written by his daughter, Liliana Najdorf. The title is "Najdorf x Najdorf", and it's in Spanish. At the end ...
 
   Nov-14-09 Panno vs Najdorf, 1968
 
Fusilli: <Mateo> True, nice endgame, but also true that Najdorf jeopardized his drawing chances with 42...g4. Panno is really good at rook endings. See for example Panno vs Reshevsky, 1980 .
 
   Nov-13-09 Panno vs Reshevsky, 1980
 
Fusilli: Black has a better chance of a draw with either 35...Ra2 or 36...b4, right? In other words, eliminating the queenside pawns. Panno produces a simple but enlightening endgame lesson after 37.Rxb5.
 
(replies) indicates a reply to the comment.

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Sep-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  SirChrislov: <Fusili: He [Maradona] seems intent on destroying his public image, not to mention the love of his own people.>

Don't be too harsh now, I'm sure it is not his intention to those things. He's a living lengend and I'm sure they made him coach for a good reason. sure he's having a little trouble with the team, most notably the recent losses to Brazil and Paraguay but I'm sure things will pick up and they'll classify to the world cup without a doubt. I only hope they don't make the mistake of firing him like they fired the legendary Hugo Sanchez after only one year of coaching Mexico. it was too premature.

"Un mundial sin Argentina no es mundial." --Kaka.

Sep-10-09   Jim Bartle: From what I can see, Maradona simply doesn't know what to do as coach. I'm sure he can get the players inspired to play, but in terms of tactics, he's out of his depth. How else could they lose 6-1 to Bolivia? Maradona didn't respect the effect of the altitude and had the players go all out from the beginning, with disastrous results.
Sep-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  SirChrislov: yes, it has to be one of their worst beatings, a giant like Argentina losing to the poorest team of conmebol, it's unexplicable.

current standings:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_F...(CONMEBOL)

Sep-10-09   Augalv: <Maradona sucks! Like most Argentines, I used to love Maradona (especially in 1986!) but enough is enough. It was always clear that he knew nothing about coaching. He was too talented a player to understand that individual talent is not all you need. And yet, they made him coach anyway. He seems intent on destroying his public image, not to mention the love of his own people.>

I couldn't agree with you more, <Fusilli>.

Sep-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  SirChrislov: 11 Teams have qualified so far to WC 2010, in chronological order:

1. South Africa(automatically qualified as host)

2. Japan
3. Australia
4. South Korea
5. Netherlands
6. North Korea (surprise, surprise! they last appeared in a WC back in 1966!!)

7. Brazil
8. Ghana
9. England
10. Spain
11. Paraguay

Where is Italy and Germany? oh well, I'm sure they'll qualify soon.

Sep-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  WinKing: <<WinKing> Thanks. I want to post some positions, but I want to run them by Fritz first and I am behind work (my real job, I mean!) I'll let everybody know when I do!>

Yes one must not lose sense of their priorities(family,job). Chess can do that sometimes to a person. Always take care of priorities first. :)

Sep-10-09   NakoSonorense: Italy is almost in, but Germany will have one tough match against Russia. If they lose it, they will have to play two-legged playoffs against the other 7 best seconds.

The US and Mexico are one step away from qualifying, too.

Sep-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <Sir Chrislov> ... <they'll classify to the world cup without a doubt> Are you sure? I mean, really, really sure? I hope you are right, but you beat me (and <Jim Bartle>) on optimism.

<Sir Chrislov> <NakoSonorense> Hey, what happened to the old rule that the champion was automatically in? Is Italy competing in the qualifiers? Has that rule been revoked?

<WinKing> Yeah, I know... I am giving a talk at Penn on Monday the 21st and it's just not coming together yet. At some point I'll take a break and start posting Miami positions.

Sep-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  WinKing: <<WinKing> Yeah, I know... I am giving a talk at Penn on Monday the 21st and it's just not coming together yet.>

I know that you said you are doing a study on the migration of chess players to the U.S.A.. Some day I would like to hear your take on that. (Dr.) Milan Vukcevich a metallurgist & GM of chess composition used to play occasionally at our club in Parma, Ohio. I lost to him at least 5 times in simultaneous exhibitions he would give. He came from Croatia(ex-Yugoslavia). I believe he left because of the unrest there if memory serves me correctly. I spoke with him about it but that was 30+ years ago in the 70's. He taught metallurgy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He wrote a book 'Chess by Milan' which I bought & he was kind enough to autograph for me.

Sep-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  zanshin: <Milan Vukcevich a metallurgist & GM of chess composition used to play occasionally at our club>

<WinKing> Have you told User: kutztown46 about him? <kutz> might be interested because he's also a metallurgist.

Sep-15-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  SirChrislov: <Fusili>

Yes, the old rule that previous champion automatically qualifies has been completely dropped. Now they must fight for a ticket in a qualification tournament. I don't know why they came to such agreement.

what do you think? should the champ receive special treatment or have to fight for a spot like all the others?

Sep-17-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <SirChrislov> <what do you think? should the champ receive special treatment or have to fight for a spot like all the others?>

Hmmm... I never thought about questioning the champ's right to qualify straight, but now that I think about it, why shouldn't they have to fight like everyone else?

Sep-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Well, I finally got around loading my Miami Open games on my computer. I ran them by Fritz and confirmed what I already knew. I played really badly. I made "??" moves in four games! I usually don't blunder badly, but I did in Miami, copiously. I will post some positions now.
Sep-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Mariano Sana (2212) v. Jeffrey Haskel (2290), Miami Open 2009, round 3:

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 Nc6 5.d5 Na5 6.Be2, Black played 6...Nf6??


click for larger view

Instead of the good (and rather obvious!) move, I played 7.Nc3?? The game ended in a draw after 34 moves. Does anyone want to volunteer the winning move/s?

Sep-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Eric Rodriguez (2308) v. Mariano Sana (2212), Miami Open 2009, round 4. White to play and win:


click for larger view

Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Nicholas Rosenthal (1944) v. Mariano Sana (2212), Miami Open 2009, round 7.

In this well-known position from the Max Lange attack:


click for larger view

... I couldn't remember what was wrong with 11...Rxb2, so I played it (??) White then played 12.f3 and then I realized that if 12...Ng5 13.Qc1. I chose to drop the exchange with 12...Rxb1, although Fritz says it's preferable to drop the piece playing 12...O-O, 12...Qe7 or 12...Qh4, because Black's position after 13.Qxb1 Ng5 is just desperately awful (by the way, not 13...Nxc3? 14.Qc2 Bxd4 15.Bxd4 Nb5 16.Bc5 and 17.a4 winning the knight).

But lucky me, my opponent is still very young and began to make mistakes and, believe it or not, I ended up winning. I'm glad I played him now and not in, say, three years! Position after 40...Qf2:


click for larger view

The game ended: 41.Rxg7+ Kxg7 42.Nxf5+ Bxf5 43.Qe7+ Kg8 44.e6 Qxg2#

Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Mariano Sana (2212) v. FM Charles Galofre (2323), Miami Open 2009, round 8.

After 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4 c6 9.axb5 Bxd2+ 10.Nfxd2! Fritz evaluates this as 1.32.


click for larger view

The same position was reached in Gulko vs Ljubojevic, 1990 (Gulko won in great style). And it looked indeed like a great position for me. Never mind, I sabotaged my position to lose the advantage by making dubious moves and then blundering a pawn. Even then, I managed to get equality and recover the pawn only to blunder a pawn again, and then a piece! An absolutely depressing game, in one word.

Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Ziyi Qin (2067) v. Mariano Sana (2212), Miami Open 2009, round 9.


click for larger view

White just played 31.Nf2-d1, a bad move. Necessary was 31.Kf1 and Black still has some advantage, but it is easier to defend.

31...Nd3 (good move, but better was 31...c4) 32.Kf1 f4 (again, 32...c4 was better; I was planning to play c4 after fixing everything else) 33.b3 (now White needs to prevent c4; if 33.Ke2 c4 is just too strong)


click for larger view

33...Nc1 34.b4 cxb4 35.cxb4 axb4 36.Ke1 Nd3+ 37.Kd2 Ne5


click for larger view

38.Nf2 Nc4+ 39.Kd3 Nb2+ 40.Kc2 Nxa4 41.h4


click for larger view

41...b3+ 42.Kxb3 Nc5+ 43.Kc4 gxh4 44.Kd5 Ke7 45.Kc6 Ke6 46.Kxb6 Kd5 0-1


click for larger view

Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  hms123: <Fusilli> In the Haskell game, <Qa4+> looks kind of obvious. Why did you reject it? Surely you considered it? thanks--hms
Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  hms123: <fusilli> I am about 60 problems into Blokh's Combinative Motifs http://www.amazon.com/Combinative-M... and all of the problems are this very theme (in the Rodriguez game) of knight forks. Easy for me to spot after drilling on them all week. Great problem position.
Sep-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <hms123> You are right, it is kind of obvious. 7.Qa4+ c6 8.Bd2 (or 8.b4, but 8.Bd2 is stronger according to Fritz) b6 9.b4 and White has decisive advantage. I don't know what I was thinking! Maybe I moved automatically without thinking, I don't remember.
Sep-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  WinKing: Hi <Fusilli>. I have been out of town the last few days. Will give your games a looking over tomorrow-have to get some rest now. Hope all is well with you! :)
Oct-01-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  WinKing: <Fusilli: Eric Rodriguez (2308) v. Mariano Sana (2212), Miami Open 2009, round 4. White to play and win:>


click for larger view

Yeah(sigh) it looks like Qxd7 does black in with the fork that ensues. You never had a chance to utilize your advantage on the queenside-what a pity :( . At first I didn't see that once the knight gives check on 'f6' his rook on 'd1' also hits 'd7'.

You had a few heartbreaking losses but Caissa has a way of evening things out & you will get another chance in your next tournament. You played 50/50 with wins & losses in this event so your rating won't be affected too badly. I know that doesn't help how you feel about your performance but your fans here have faith that you will bounce back. Chess is like a lot of other sports & games-you need a short term memory. :) I will be eagerly awaiting your next event. Your fans here are still with you <Fusilli>!

Oct-02-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <Winking> True. 1.Qxd7 Rxd7 2.Nf6+ Kf8 3.Rxd7, 1-0 since the threat of 4.Bh6# is demolishing. That was the only game that I lost with relative dignity. In my other two losses I blundered badly. In this game I played reasonably well until I got too greedy on the queenside, a strategic miscalculation.

Thanks for your kind words for my next tournament!

Nov-18-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Chess boxing! http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/vid/16696...
Jump directly to page #    (enter number from 1 to 5)
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing >

Advertise on Chessgames.com
NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community!
If you already have an account, you should login now.
Please observe our posting guidelines:
  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts.
  3. No personal attacks against other users.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
Blow the Whistle See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator.


NOTE: Keep all discussion on the topic of this page. This forum is for this specific user and nothing else. If you want to discuss chess in general, or this site, you might try the Kibitzer's Café.
Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.

You are not logged in to chessgames.com.
If you need an account, register now;
it's quick, anonymous, and free!
If you already have an account, click here to sign-in.

View another user profile:
  


home | about | login | logout | F.A.Q. | your profile | preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | new kibitzing | chessforums | new games | Player Directory | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Little ChessPartner | privacy notice | contact us
Copyright 2001-2009, Chessgames.com
Web design & database development by 20/20 Technologies