User Profile: Fusilli

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Fusilli
Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Dec-09-25

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.)

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

   Fusilli has kibitzed 6309 times to chessgames [more...]

   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-09-25 Fusilli chessforum

Fusilli: If y'all are in the mood for a really, really tough puzzle (a mate in 3) check out my post on Murray Marble The post also has the link to the solution for when you give up!

   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 ...

   Nov-28-25 Walbrodt vs Loew, 1898

Fusilli: <juan31> Que paliza!

indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 105 OF 114 · Later Kibitzing>
Feb-10-25		stone free or die: <Fusilli> great job. I saw a few of your updates scattered about. It's nice to have a Spanish speaker involved, and a gentleman as well. Might take me a bit to circle around and review all the details, but I thought I'd write this note of appreciation straight away. Cheers.

Feb-11-25		Fusilli: Thank you <stone>, I appreciate it.

Feb-12-25		keypusher: <Fusilli: <arek> <stone> <Troller> Thanks for your efforts, team! In the meantime, I found out and filled in dates of death for Uruguayan Alfredo Olivera, and the Argentines Lauro Varas and Carlos Eleodoro Juarez. I also found out that a number of other old Argentine players are indeed alive and kicking. In my spare time, I'll keep checking on Spanish-speaking old players' bios.> Thanks, this is great!

Feb-13-25		Fusilli: Dealing with a painful flare up today. It's been on and off for a month. I get sacro-iliac joint pain. It's a consequence of my limping. (And maybe stress, which can cause just about anything!) Weak leg means excessive impact on that one joint (on the right-hand side). Today, one hour after getting up, it wasn't letting up, so I canceled class and stayed home. It only subsides with ice, stretching, and a lot of ibuprofen. Or just sitting... It hurts only when standing or walking (not all the time, thankfully... it's a bit unpredictable). But I can't go over my morning routine, when I need to be efficient (I teach at 8am) while sitting! If I am back on my feet by noon, I'll go in to teach my afternoon class. I hate canceling class, even if I am in pain. I always feel I let everyone down. Maybe it's neither work ethic nor guilt, but a sense of misplaced personal worth on what I do rather than what I am. I will do some research work and other things I can do at home. Unfortunately, much of what I need is in my office, because I prefer to work in my office rather than at home. On the plus side, it's 8am and I have the whole day ahead of me... Have a nice day, everybody! (Says man throwing a message in a bottle into the sea).

Feb-13-25		stone free or die: Sympathies.

Feb-13-25		areknames: Sorry to hear that, <Fusilli>. Hope you recover soon.

Feb-13-25		moronovich: All the best wishes for your recovery < Fusilli>.

Feb-13-25		Fusilli: Thank you guys. I canceled my afternoon class too. My attempts at being up and about resulted in pain. Ugh. I hope to be able to post that I am feeling fine tomorrow.

Feb-14-25		stone free or die: (I'm just glad you can find some pain free positions to get in. I've know cases where that wasn't possible. Wonder if the new pain treatment drug just announced is relevant here?)

Feb-14-25		Fusilli: I'm doing better today, crossing my fingers. Thanks for the good wishes everyone!

Feb-14-25		areknames: <Fusilli> Great news! Let's hope it stays that way.

Feb-15-25		keypusher: Glad to hear it, Fusilli. Vandy needs you!

Feb-15-25		moronovich: Great news <Fusilli> !

Feb-16-25		Check It Out: Good thoughts for you, Fusilli!

Feb-16-25		Teyss: Hi Fusilli, Apologies, just read your note on my profile page. If one doesn't put my username in the message, I won't pick it up with a special search link (which incidentally works even without <those things> you imposed on Sally Simpson and that he is very consistent with now ;). So I missed the trivia but anyhow wouldn't have been to compete with the encyclopaedic knowledge of some users here including yourself. Sorry to hear you didn't feel well a few days ago and glad you feel better now. Understandably you felt upset about skipping class since transmitting knowledge is one of the noble missions we can have. It's not like working in a private company whose sole purpose is increasing shareholders' value. I have great respect for professors as many good ones motivated us students in specific fields and even helped us build important values. Also my mother was a teacher so I can partly understand what education is about. Best wishes of health and wellbeing.

Feb-19-25		Fusilli: Thank you everyone for the well wishes! I'm back to normal, apparently. Or clearly on the way to be. As we age, have you all noticed how much more discipline is required from us to get better when we have physical ailments? (I'm assuming we are all comfortably past 50...<moro>, <keypusher>, <sfod>, <Teyss>, <arek>, <check it out>) The day I skipped my home PT exercises, I was worse by the end of the day. I started my day easy, with a few blitz games. I'll post something in a sec.

Feb-19-25		Fusilli: Blitz has this thing where you get obsessed with one (good) idea, but then that obsession leads you to blow the game. Here I am white: click for larger view My defense strategy is simple, but it requires <alertness>. Check and check and check for as long as I can, <avoiding those checks where black can cover with the queen AND check, exchanging queens>, and try to get a lucky check where I can capture the f-pawn. So, in the position of the diagram, I have no more checks (if 67.Qh6+ Qf4+). So, I played 67.Qh7 f4 click for larger view So, 68.Kc3 (what else?) Now, black is <obsessed> with finding the check that forces the queen trade, and goes for 68...Ke2+ 69.Kc2 and... click for larger view 69...Qd3+?? <Mission accomplished!> Or... oops. Moral of the story: <obsession> is bad for <alertness>!

Feb-19-25		stone free or die: <So, 68.Kc3 (what else?)> 68.Qa7+ maybe?

Feb-19-25		Fusilli: <stone> Sure, but they all lose. The most important thing is <not> to play Qe7+ which loses on the spot to Qe4+ Where I blew it was some moves earlier. In this position: click for larger view I played the losing 63.Qb3+? The computer says 0.00 with 63.Qd5+ (and also with 63.Qa8+, but I find 63.Qd5+ more intuitive because it threatens the pawn).

Feb-20-25		stone free or die: Well, you did ask. In blitz there's always a hope a losing game can be won no matter how skanky the position.

Feb-21-25		Fusilli: <stone free or die: Well, you did ask.> lol, fair! I didn't mean to shoot down your suggestion, though it may have come out that way :) True that Qa7+ was a totally reasonable move, and my Kc3 was not better. The only important thing was not to play the immediately losing Qe7+. In any event, you are totally right about the volatility of blitz. Even though I play with a 2-second increment most of my games (including the one we just discussed), "never give up" does apply to blitz much, much more than it applies to rapid, let alone classical.

Feb-21-25		stone free or die: And let's not forget Botvinnik's supposed quote about blitz: <“Yes, I have played a blitz game once. It was on a train, in 1929.” >

Feb-21-25		keypusher: I am playing in the Music City Open this weekend, a really terrible idea...what is the drill? I move, write the move down, then press the clock button?

Feb-21-25		stone free or die: Can I butt in? Normally you must make your move first (finalized by pressing the clock) and only then record the move. FIDE is more insistent on this than USCF - https://new.uschess.org/sites/defau... There is an important exception to this rule of thumb for claiming a 50-move draw - see p2 of the above.

Feb-21-25		stone free or die: Oh, yes, I forgot to wish you good luck (supposing you'll need it!).

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