Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Mar-30-26 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 6474 times to chessgames   [more...]

Mar-29-26 Chessgames - Literature   Fusilli: <That film's name was "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and was a rather faithful adaption of the book, I think.> Great film, and packed with top acting talent.      Mar-28-26 Fusilli chessforum    Fusilli: Hey fellas, I know we are mostly men over certain age around here. Or I assume so. So, I have a question that may or may not resonate. I like religion. I like the idea of God. I grew up in a practicing Catholic household. I went to a Catholic school 1-12. Growing up in Argentina, ...      Mar-25-26 Van der Wiel vs Kasparov, 1982   Fusilli: <Whitehat1963: What happens after 23. Nh6+ Kf8 (or Kh8) 24. Nf4?> <mertangili: <whitehat1963> i think after your line; 24...Qg5 25. Nxd3 cxd3 and the knight on h6 is lost> After 23.Nh6+ Kf8 24.Nf4 Nxf4 25.Kxf4 Qh4 and it looks like mate is coming, isn't it? (Or ...      Mar-25-26 Jacob Murey    Fusilli: He made GM at 46. Rather late in life, but maybe not so much at the time?      Mar-25-26 J Murey vs V Malakhov, 2000    Fusilli: Wow, this guys knows how to attack. Relentless.      Mar-25-26 Botvinnik vs N Sorokin, 1931    Fusilli: <perf> <So far as I know, in FIDE-rated events one is no longer allowed to write a move on their scoresheet before making it; is this the one exception?> That's an excellent question. And probably not a question we can solely answer based on rules, since the rules are ...      Mar-23-26 F Rhine vs D Sprenkle, 1981   Fusilli: <Mednis may have put in a good word for me with Informant, I don't know. But Informant did publish the game! In the next issue, I was shocked to learn that Informant's panel of judges had also voted it one of the 10 most theoretically important games in Volume 32.> No doubt a ...      Mar-23-26 Kenneth Rogoff    Fusilli: Great to know, <FSR>. I think starting your message the way you did is not just good strategy, but it is kind. You are showing him you care and appreciate his accomplishments. I'm not even 1/100th as famous as Rogoff, but as a university professor at a renowned place, I do get      Mar-22-26 Navara vs Wojtaszek, 2016   Fusilli: <I meant to include that perhaps Black overlooked that after 28...Bxf2+ 29. Kg2, 29...Rd7 would enable 30. Rf1 to be met by 30...Qc5!> That's my guess too. Maybe black played a tad too quickly there. In the old days, one could be really low on time by move 30 and mess up ...      Mar-16-26 Panno vs W Hug, 1973    Fusilli: Fun game.

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 118 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-27-26    stone free or die: I'm disqualified - I missed a simple move at the end of the sequence which I'll post later after people cook on it. (I'm not as virtuous as many on <CG>) Feb-27-26    OhioChessFan: Friday or Saturday. The idea is straight forward but a couple of Knight moves are counter intuitive. Feb-27-26    Fusilli: <OCF> What I think makes it a great puzzle is that black found the one way that exploits both of white's weaknesses simultaneously--the bank rank and the gallivanting queen. Nothing else even gives an advantage. Feb-27-26    stone free or die: Also - it's amazing that all of Black's pieces have important roles in the tactic. It's an instructive position. (And bunches of good motifs, starting with "loose pieces..." ) Feb-28-26    stone free or die: <<Fusilli> I mean, if there was no computer help.> I'm a slow thinker - I get nailed over on <ChessTempo> when I do blitz. I think this would be 5-10 minutes without an engine - and even then I might screw it up. How long did Peatman take on his move 21? And did he go into any long thinks during the combo? . Feb-28-26    chancho: Ok, so what is the solution? Feb-28-26    stone free or die: Here's a variation I missed which I think is illustrative: < 21...Rb1 22.Qa6 Nb3 23.Rb1 Nc5 > click for larger view < 24.Nxc5 Qe1+ 25.Qf1 Ba2+! > The key is exploiting the undefended White knight on d3, which is f-pinned (functionally pinned) to defending e1. The trick is seeing ...Nb3, ...Nc5 attacks it, and it can't move without help due to the BRM. I thought the White queen could lend support, both of the knight and of f1 (via x-ray) by 22...Qa6. (Engine says 22...Qxa7, which is similar but has a less flashy ending) Feb-28-26    Fusilli: <chancho> From the position of the diagram: click for larger view 21... Rb8! 22.Qxa7 Nb3 23.Rb1 Nc5!! click for larger view White is cooked. Black is threatening the knight on d3 and trapping the queen! Nxc5 allows immediate mate. Anything else loses the queen with insufficient compensation. (I played 24.Bf4 Ra8 25.Bxd6 etc. but it is hopeless.) If 22.Qa6 Nb3 23.Rb1 Nc5! (threatens Nxd3) click for larger view If 24.Nxc5 Qe1+ 25.Qf1 Bh2+ winning. <sfod> I don't remember but I'm sure he had been looking at the variations already. Maybe 5 minutes at move 21, perhaps a bit more. The next two he played in a minute or two. I don't remember what I thought of 22.Qxa6 but I thought I could get away with creating an a-passer. I may have even seen Nc5 against Qa6 but surely missed it when Nc5 doesn't even threaten the queen (missing that my queen would get trapped). His Nc5 completely stunned me. It is an unpleasant shock when you think you have a good game and suddenly you are hopelessly lost! Feb-28-26    Fusilli: <sfod> we were typing at the same time! <(Engine says 22...Qxa7, which is similar but has a less flashy ending)> Actually, I think that one is flashier, or more subtle if you will, because Nc5 in that line (the game line) doesn't even attack the queen. It doesn't have to! Feb-28-26    Fusilli: I just submitted the game vs. Peatman and also my loss to IM Burnett, which has one instructive moment where I made a very bad positional judgment (I'll share as a comment on the game when/if it gets uploaded). I played a third game, which I won, but not of enough quality to upload it. The tourney had five rounds, but I took two half-point byes. I figured I get too tired now (darn MS!) and I play better with enough rest. In December, I played a 4-game rapid tourney (all in the same day) and I won the first two but loss the other two. Lesson learned. My rating keeps diving down toward 2100. I hope to stay above that threshold, but if that doesn't happen, I'll take it gracefully. I play for fun and love of the game! Feb-28-26    chancho: This is the kind of problem worthy of inclusion in a book on tactics. . Feb-28-26    stone free or die: Ha! Thanks for a delicious position - even if you were on the wrong side, it's a beautiful and illustrative position well worth sharing. * * * * * PS - I'd like to come up with a catchy name for this knight configuration: click for larger view I used Black pawns to high-light the double diagonal coverage which I wanted to emphasis. Feb-28-26    Fusilli: Kingsley v Lindgren 2024. Black to play. click for larger view Feb-28-26    stone free or die: Dovetail to dovetail? Feb-28-26    Fusilli: <stone> Any other feature of the position you want to emphasize? All black pawns are under attack, but black wins easily regardless of who moves first. I tried moving everything one row up and run various positions with the white king on different squares, and it's always a black win or drawish. It'd be nice to find a maddening position where white wins. Feb-28-26    moronovich: Nf3 with mate. Allways check a check ! ;) Feb-28-26    stone free or die: Sorry <Fusilli>, it was just a silly observation of the knight's cooperative configuration I noticed in your game with Peatman. I was just showing the squares controlled (under attack) lining up in a double diagonal. Kinda trivial, but it forced your queen onto the a-file in your game. Mar-01-26    Fusilli: <stone> lol, I didn't realize it was inspired by my game! Mar-01-26    Fusilli: Tricky position I got in blitz, seconds left. click for larger view Black to play a piece to c1 for either mate in 2 or stalemate... take your pick! I have my promotions set automatically to queen and instinct warned me of the trap, so I played Ke1 taking a little longer to mate. Mar-01-26    Fusilli: I meant Kd1 Mar-01-26    chancho: 1...Kc1 2.Ka1 Ra3# Mar-01-26    stone free or die: Pawn promotion to king! Mar-01-26    Fusilli: <chancho: 1...Kc1 2.Ka1 Ra3#> Of course! But a good reminder that stalemate can always be around the corner, especially when it is the only hope for the defending side. <stone free or die: Pawn promotion to king!> Yes! Mar-01-26    moronovich: One of the funniest solution to a chess puzzle I ever saw, was that white promoted to a BLACK knight (due to stalemate) !! From the book "The joy of Chess, which is hereby warmly recommended. The puzzle goes many moons back from a time when the rules didn´t say that one was obliged to promote to the same color as the pawn ;). Mar-02-26    Fusilli: <moro> Wow! I never thought about this before. Do the rules say that one must promote to a piece of one's own color? It makes sense to just assume it, but if the rules simply say any piece but a king (or a pawn), then technically... 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