Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen May-17-25 Mariano Sana, Argentinian by birth, in the US since 1995. Naturalized US citizen. I hold a PhD in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, and I am an associate professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University: https://as.vanderbilt.edu/sociology.... Previously, I was at Louisiana State University (2003-2009). My published academic work can be seen here: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/Mar.... My review of Gary Alan Fine's "Players and Pawns" is here: https://www.academia.edu/69647923/P.... My avatar comes from a cartoon of mine drawn by a friend. My username, besides the pasta, is my late cat's name (he died in March 2021, age 19), inspired by this cartoon: https://condenaststore.com/featured.... My first tournament was at age 12 in 1979. I finished 8th in the Argentine junior championship in 1985. So, I was good enough, but not great. (That same evaluation might still be apt today, on a good day.) Unfortunately, no game scores survived from those years. I started to play again after grad school. I play between 0 and 4 tournaments per year. I won the Louisiana State Championship in 2007. I lost the first game and then won six in a row. This was my last round win, where I got lucky after playing the opening pretty terribly: J Rousselle vs M Sana, 2007. I also won the under 2200 section of the US Open in 2014. Again, Swiss gambit. Lost the first one, then won five in a row, lost game 7 (M Sana vs J Sheng, 2014, a rather atypical game), and won games 8 and 9. My last round win was featured as a Tuesday puzzle: K Gulamali vs M Sana, 2014. (Try it! Black to play at move 29. But you can also do black to play at move 22 as a principled-move puzzle.) I'd say that I am essentially a good but inconsistent player. My playing style is a mix of strategic and tactical. I'm usually very willing to sac a pawn or allow positional weaknesses in exchange for active piece play. For years I hovered around 2200, down to mid 2100s a few years ago after a disaster and a 50-point loss at the 2019 World Open. (Aging and MS fatigue had much to do with that.) On good days, I have had nice wins: T Bartell vs M Sana, 2009, R Burnett vs M Sana, 2012, M Sana vs C Blocker, 2014, M Sana vs R Burnett, 2015. But on a bad day, I can play horribly and lose against whoever is sitting in front of me. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2011, but it didn't cause me trouble until 2018/9. I have a weak right leg (I often use a cane now) and I fatigue easily. Medication, well-timed naps, and exercise help. I play blitz games on chess.com under the username RealFusilli. My participation on this website goes through ebbs and flows, and the majority of my posts are about chess. I often post on my own forum just to keep records for myself. Everyone is welcome to visit and share! (But please don't post about politics here.)

Fusilli has kibitzed 6136 times to chessgames   [more...]

May-13-25 Vlastimil Hort    Fusilli: Sad to see another great from my young years pass away. Thank you for your games, grandmaster.      May-13-25 Fusilli chessforum    Fusilli: Hi everyone, for whoever stops by my forum these days! Things have been good. The school year is over, and I had the pleasure to hood the second PhD of my career. There will be a third a few years down the road. (My department is of medium size, with about 20 faculty and about 30 ...      May-13-25 Biographer Bistro    Fusilli: <jnpope: For anyone not a child in the US in the 1970s...> I was a child in the 1970s but not in the U.S. This year will be my 30th anniversary in the U.S. and I think I never heard of <RIF>, believe it or not. Did <RIF> fall by the wayside over time? OTOH, I am ...      May-06-25 Balashov vs J Sunye Neto, 1979   Fusilli: <Ruanpablo1> Thank you. I checked and edited his bio based on the summary you provided.      Apr-28-25 F Oro vs S Vetokhin, 2025    Fusilli: <MissScarlett: <prodigies have a harder time climbing the ladder and staying on top (if they get there).> <I doubt this last part.> Do you agree with everything else? <I would argue that it's now easier to maintain high standards for longer, assuming, of course, ...      Apr-27-25 Sax vs Anand, 1986   Fusilli: From move 20...Bc5 on, every single move, black threatens something decisive. White can only watch what happens to his position from then on.      Apr-27-25 Faustino Oro   Fusilli: Fauti's dad reported on Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/p/DI3bNfk... ) that Fausti ended up in fourth place, with 7/9, in the blitz tournament at Menorca, a side event to Menorca Open (2025) .      Apr-20-25 G Beretta vs G Genovese, 2019    Fusilli: <areknames> True. I wonder if black meant to play Bh6 first and forgot.      Mar-31-25 Z Peng vs G P Arnaudov, 2015   Fusilli: I like 4.Nf3 against the Benko. And then the restraining 6.e3, which keeps options open. The line gives white comfortable positional play while complicating the typical themes black plays for in this gambit. Here black went for the deceivingly good-looking 7...Qa5+ and 8...Ne4, but ...      Mar-19-25 Oscar Panno    Fusilli: Detailed post about the 1978 olympiad chess set here: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/ch...

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 107 OF 107 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-19-25    Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com, I am black. Black to play: click for larger view (Don't ask... it's been a crazy game. I actually sacked a piece first.) The good move is 26...Kg8, but I thought it made no difference to let him play Rxh6+ first and respond to that with Kg8. So, I played 26... c5 click for larger view What did I miss? Mar-20-25    OhioChessFan: Ouch. Rxh6+ gxh6 Qxh6+ and a perpetual. Mar-20-25    Fusilli: <OCF> Right, but I thought Rxh6+ Kg8 was still winning. But... what does white have there? Mar-20-25    moronovich: Kg8 is met by the classic Nf5 ! double attack. Mar-20-25    stone free or die: I'm seeing the knight getting to f5 then e7 for mate, all depending if Black cooperates of course. Mar-21-25    Fusilli: <stone> <moro> Exactly. Black isn't dead though. Against Nf5, black has Qd7. Without looking at the lines, it's about equal, silicon monster says. Against Nc6, black has nothing better than Qxc6+... and again it's about equal. The advanced pawns compensate for the rook v queen. Mar-21-25    stone free or die: I have to ask, out of idle curiosity, who ultimately won? Mar-21-25    Fusilli: <stone> Good question! He actually didn't see the knight maneuver. He played Qh4? and I won. chess.com has a "review game" feature where you can run the game quickly by the computer and quickly discover things. I did that and discovered what both of us had missed. Mar-21-25    Fusilli: <stone> I mean he played Rxh6+ Kg8, Qh4 Mar-22-25    stone free or die: Ah blitz, such a cruel mistress! Apr-15-25    OhioChessFan: What was the last move? click for larger view Apr-15-25    areknames: <OCF> I think I've got it. White has a bishop on g1, black's king is on h1 so the last move is Bh2+ followed by Kxh2. But how did black's king get to h1 in the first place? These things drive me crazy! Apr-15-25    stone free or die: (Maybe the question should be what were the two last moves - one for each color!) Apr-19-25    Fusilli: <OCF> I got it, but it took a bit. It takes a while to get to the point where you need a piece that doesn't exist anymore. <stone> is right! Also, in the position before 1.Bh2+, that move is the only mate in 2, isn't it? And 1.g3?? the only move that concedes a draw by stalemate. And... hello, everybody! I haven't posted in a while because this time of the year is pretty busy at work. I have been occasionally checking in to see what's going on, but without posting except for a game that called my attention. I hope everyone is doing well. Have a blessed Easter, pesach's end, or just a nice weekend! Apr-19-25    areknames: <Fusilli> Happy Easter mate, and to everyone else. Apr-21-25    Fusilli: Sad news from the Vatican. I will miss Francis. Apr-21-25    chancho: Esta en un mejor lugar. May-13-25    Fusilli: Hi everyone, for whoever stops by my forum these days! Things have been good. The school year is over, and I had the pleasure to hood the second PhD of my career. There will be a third a few years down the road. (My department is of medium size, with about 20 faculty and about 30 grad students, so graduating your own student is not a regular event.) Here's my Instagram post on it: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJewUjV... I have planting various things in my backyard... lettuce, arugula, carrots, beets, radish, parsley, basil, sunflower... As in previous years, the tomato is coming back on its own. The garlic that I planted back in October is looking great! I should harvest the first bulbs next month. My wife and I decided to swing by Charleston at the end of the month for the <Spoleto Festival> ( https://spoletousa.org/). We are planning to see the opera <The Turn of the Screw> and a dance performance by <Limón Dance Company>. Chesswise, it looks like MS has made me quit competition after all. Or not, we'll see. It's just that I get so tired, and frankly, I have lost quite a bit of motivation. May-13-25    stone free or die: Oooh, we want photos of your garden booty! May-14-25    perfidious: <Fusilli>, in response to: <....On a perhaps pedantic note, I believe Sunye is his father's surname and Neto his mother's, which makes <Sunye Neto> his last name. In Argentina we often called him just <Sunye>.> The naming convention is not quite the same; 'Neto' is the same as 'Nieto' in Spanish. It is most unfortunate that MS appears to have taken something that you have long enjoyed. Will this be your first visit to Charleston? I have not yet had the pleasure, though a close friend was there last month for the first time. May-14-25    Check It Out: <Fusilli> nice to hear about your garden. I have recently planted two tomato starts, basil, curly parsley, mild and hot peppers, Thai basil, and red and green leaf romaine. Let's see how it goes, I'm not a rookie but I'm not exactly a green thumb either. May-14-25    perfidious: <CIO>, sounds like a lot of stuff that would grow here; both very different climates than that where <Fusilli> lives. That said, I would rate somewhere below rookie ball, as I have never grown anything. May-14-25    moronovich: Nice to hear about gardening. I still vividly remember when I, as a 6-8 year old kid, did my grandparents (small) garden. Sitting in the cherrytree was the best ;) May-16-25    areknames: <Fusilli> It's great to read that things are good for you, although I don't understand the meaning of "hood the second PhD of my career". It's fantastic to read about the planting of stuff in your backyard. And the Spoleto Festival in Charleston (!!) sounds like something else. Even though I dislike the term, I think of this forum as a <safe space>, just a bunch of (mature) guys getting together virtually to shoot the breeze about chess, gardening, cats or whatever else life brings. Myself, I am still reeling from heartbreaking news I received yesterday about the death of my brother. I am no stranger to loss and grief - I suppose none of us are - but it doesn't get any easier the more of it you experience. Quite the contrary. May-16-25    moronovich: Sorry to hear about your brother <areknames>. And you are right,it doesn´t necessary get easier as we get older. Sometimes the opposite. So may you cope with it, the best way possible. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 107) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 107 OF 107 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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