Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Dec-11-25 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 6313 times to chessgames   [more...]

Dec-10-25 Fusilli chessforum   Fusilli: Oh, I see now it was made a movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3864056/ Maybe I'll resume reading over the break and see how it goes. And if I like it, I'll watch the movie. <Spoiler alert> But since it happens early on, it won't ruin the whole thing for you. The big event is      Dec-09-25 N Theodorou vs G Jones, 2025   Fusilli: <number 23> I just read your profile blurb. I totally identify with this! <My specialty is getting into trouble out of the opening because I don't prepare well, then hoodwinking points out of players through a variety of creative and fortunate swindles.>      Dec-09-25 G Garcia Gonzalez vs Velimirovic, 1982   Fusilli: Position after 55...Qc4 [DIAGRAM] The black queen is annoying, but white can't push her away easily. If 56.Rb4 Qd3 repeats the position. And obviously, 56. R or Qc3 runs into Ne2+. 56.Kh2! And it turns out that 56...Nd3 doesn't win material. White gets to trade queens and loses a ...      Dec-09-25 Botvinnik vs Tal, 1961   Fusilli: Another nice positional squeeze in this line is L Christiansen vs G Garcia Gonzalez, 1982 .      Dec-08-25 Murray Marble   Fusilli: Murray Marble, 1908 Mate in 3 [DIAGRAM] When you give up, see the solution here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCU... (Or ask your engine, of course)      Dec-07-25 J Friedman vs Gulko, 1993   Fusilli: This is a big <oops!> of a game.      Dec-06-25 J Cuenca Jimenez vs F Oro, 2025   Fusilli: What an interesting positional game. Black's bishop looks bad, but white has his own pawn structure weakness, and Faustino maneuvered admirably.      Dec-06-25 Faustino Oro    Fusilli: I usually don't care to cheer for any GM in particular, but I second my fellow Argentinian <Augalv>!      Dec-05-25 London Chess Classic (2025)    Fusilli: <keypusher> Check the email I sent you on 11/23, please.      Nov-30-25 F Baumbach vs Y Sakharov, 1977   Fusilli: Black seems to have had trouble managing his queen here. 3...Qe7 looks like an odd choice. The queen is misplaced in the KID scheme that followed, to the point that black eventually sends her back to d8. Later, 15...Qc7 misplaces the queen again. (The computer says 15...b5 gives ...

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 103 OF 114 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-14-25    moronovich: Nf5 (!) and mate on f7, or g7 Jan-15-25    Fusilli: <moro> yes! Jan-15-25    areknames: Good combo! I saw Nf5 also but then forgot about the Rook on f1 so I couldn't make the mate work. Jan-25-25    perfidious: <Fusilli>, I have never considered it necessary to comment on such matters as editing a biography; if anyone has something to contribute, jump in! The water is fine. The reason I mentioned this here is because, while there is work to be done, I will never post at the Bistro again. To be told that edits I have made are 'useless' is a bit of too much. Jan-26-25    Fusilli: <perf> Thanks for the input. As to the <useless> part, I'm sorry to hear that. I know there are long-lasting feuds around here, but it must be aggravating to get that when you contribute something to improve the site. Jan-26-25    Fusilli: About a week or two ago, I switched my blitz settings on chess.com to the option to hide ratings during play. The result... I went up over 100 points in a week! I did not realize that knowing my opponent's rating affected me negatively! Now, simply put, I focus more on the game before me. Right now, I just escaped with a draw vs Geert van der Stricht. I had the black pieces, it was a Catalan, and I was in dire straits, but survived! Jan-27-25    stone free or die: <<perf> The reason I mentioned this here is because, while there is work to be done, I will never post at the Bistro again. To be told that edits I have made are 'useless' is a bit of too much.> Who said that? I hope you don't think it was I. Jan-27-25    jnpope: <z>: I think <perf> misconstrued your "useless tid" comment as meaning his efforts were useless. <perf>: 99% of all tids are useless by <z>'s reckoning as they will never be promoted to events in the Tournament Index. It has nothing to do with the work you've done in helping <Tab> sort out that tid containing all those Amsterdam games. Jan-28-25    Fusilli: <stone> <jnpope> Hi guys. I don't know about the incident you are referring to, but I do know that misunderstandings happen (we are human), diplomatic skills around here are sometimes in short supply (still, human), and more than anything, I am in awe at the collective effort involved in the betterment of this website (humans doing something they do well--cooperation), and that all of you are part of that effort. Happy to be here and happy to have the two of you, <perf>, and many others around. Thank you! Jan-28-25    stone free or die: Thanks <jn> and <Fusilli> both, for being so diplomatic here. I pretty much agree with the details that <jn> presented - my focus during my diatribe was trying to understand and criticize a technical software detail of <CG>, not any editor's contribution. In fact my one caveat to <jn>'s summation concerns this: <[the auto-generated tid's] will never be promoted to events in the Tournament Index> It's not the promotion as much as the confusion these tid's cause with the hand-crafted work actually done by the editor team. My point being the latter is far more trustworthy and useful and should be easily identifiable as such. OK then, moving on... (thanks for letting me stop in) Feb-02-25    Fusilli: Not in this database, probably because only the puzzle position survived. Kieseritzky v Dumonceau 1844 White to play click for larger view Feb-02-25    moronovich: Nb6+,Qxc6+ followed by good old Bodens mate. Feb-03-25    areknames: Good one. Not too hard (but elegant), as I got it! Feb-03-25    Fusilli: <arek> <moro> Indeed! Simple (for someone with sufficient level of training and experience) but quite pretty. It's all about patterns! Feb-03-25    stone free or die: As I've said over on <ChessTempo>, whenever you have a slashing bishop attack right under the enemy King's nose, keep an eye out for a Boden's. Feb-04-25    Fusilli: <stone> good advice! Feb-07-25    Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am white. Time to go for the kill. White to play. click for larger view Feb-08-25    moronovich: Good morning ! Ne6+,Rd1+,Qxc7# With all the best wishes for the weekend. Feb-08-25    Fusilli: <moro> Yes, Ne6+... but assuming you mean Rd1+ as a response to dxe6, wouldn't you just give mate on c7 straight away? :) Feb-08-25    Fusilli: *** MORBID TRIVIA *** What is the most recent tournament in this database with at least 12 participants, all of whom are now dead? How about we go auction style? I'll start. Then someone name a more recent tournament with all players dead. Again, minimum 12 players. Zuerich Candidates (1953) Easy to beat! Interestingly, this became an all-dead tournament only in 2022, when Yuri Averbakh died, aged 100. Any takers? It's low hanging fruit! Feb-08-25    moronovich: Off course, Qxc7 in the next move ;). And thanks for your invitation. Feb-08-25    Stonehenge: Yugoslav Championship (1958). Feb-08-25    Fusilli: <Stonehenge> Nice. All gone, even though a good bunch of them lived beyond 80. Feb-08-25    Fusilli: Fridrik Olafsson, who just turned 90, is the sole survivor of Buenos Aires (1960). So, <stonehenge>'s bid stands. Feb-08-25    Fusilli: Okay, here: Buenos Aires (1964) ... with the very safe assumption that Alfredo Olivera, born in 1908, is gone. (Incidentally, I'm going to try to track him to find out date of death.) Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 114) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 103 OF 114 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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