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 119 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-02-26    WannaBe: 1862 Law XIII https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promo... And also note, the paragraph before: <Under Law XIII of the 1862 "Code of Laws of the British Chess Association", a pawn reaching its last rank had the option to remain as a pawn instead of being promoted.[note 2][20] In his 1889 work The Modern Chess Instructor, Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Chess Champion, endorsed this rule,[21] explaining its purpose by referring to the position diagrammed, which he cited from Johann Löwenthal's Book of the London Chess Congress, of 1862.> The link have the diagram. If you wish to explore this article further. Mar-02-26    moronovich: Good morning <Fusilli> and thanks to <WannaBe>. Yes,the rules have been corrected as to how we know them nowadays : Same color and not possible to promote to a king or a pawn.Which otherwise could be rather funny. Imagine 4 kings, or more, swimming around on the board ;) Mar-02-26    moronovich: Life is filled with rules/guidelines and exceptions. I have spent some time looking for a possible triplecheck, but unfortunately it doesn´t exist ;) Mar-02-26    Fusilli: Hey fellas, my recent games with Burnett and Peatman are up. Don't comment on the Peatman game... I suggested to <CG> that it can be used for a puzzle, a per our discussion. Let's not blow it but calling attention to it. (I am blowing it right now, in a sense, but most users don't visit my forum.) Mar-02-26    Fusilli: An old time favorite: Herman v Walther, 1926 Black to play click for larger view Mar-02-26    chancho: 1...Qc2 looks like it is begging to be played. Mar-02-26    Fusilli: <chancho> You said it! Mar-05-26    OhioChessFan: A famous composition by Lazard: click for larger view White to move and draw. Mar-05-26    OhioChessFan: I didn't realize he had 44 games in the database. Frederic Lazard Mar-06-26    OhioChessFan: What doesn't work on the Lazard puzzle: 1. Rc7 Rh5+ and the b Pawn Queens. Maybe 2. Kd4 Rc5 3. Rxc5 bxc5 Mar-07-26    Fusilli: <OCF> I couldn't look into it until today. I'm playing with crazy center-of-the-board stalemates in my head. I'll check in later. Mar-07-26    Fusilli: Oh right!! 1.Rg7+ Kf3 (if Kh4, Rc7) 2.Rc7 (now!) Rh5+ 3.Kd4 Rc5 4.Rxc5 bxc5+ 5.Kd3... If black promotes queen or rook, it's a stalemate. If he promotes a bishop or a knight, Kc4 and draw. Beautiful! Mar-08-26    OhioChessFan: I can't believe the combination of stalemates and insufficient promoted material. Just a beautiful composition. Mar-11-26    Fusilli: White to play and win click for larger view Mar-11-26    WannaBe: I would play Rg7, since I know how well I play, it's the wrong move. Mar-11-26    Fusilli: <wannabe> well... that one loses :) See how the pawn endgame (both b-pawns have been killed) is a loser for white? The black kind shoulders the white king out of the way and gobbles the f and h pawns. Mar-11-26    stone free or die: 1.Rg8 and clean up both pawns on b-file while trying to scoot WK around c-pawn to clean out K-side. White will have to sac the rook of course. (Not sure that works, but just eyeballing it) Mar-11-26    Fusilli: <sfod> Rg8 is a draw, but white only draws by combining checks with preventing promotion. Trading the rook for both b-pawns always loses the pawn endgame. So, the draw is: 1.Rg8 b2 2. Ra8+ Kb1 3.Ra5! click for larger view 3... Kc2 (3...b6 would lose to Rxf5) 4.Rc5+ Kd2 5.Rb5 Kc2 6.Rc5+ draw Mar-11-26    stone free or die: Ah, much better than my feeble attempt (I should have just left it at 1.Rg8 - ha!). Nice. Mar-12-26    Fusilli: <sfod> Did you get it? Or did you check? Remember that the puzzle is white to <win>, in case I gave the wrong impression that the goal was to draw. Mar-12-26    stone free or die: Oh, I think I just assumed that the f-pawn goes and the rook gets back on the b-file. That would allow the white K to get in the action without wasting all that time going around. But no, I'm just bouncing around the forums blowing off some steam. Sorry, haven't really forced a think-through on it. . Mar-12-26    stone free or die: Forget everything I wrote other than bouncing around - obviously wrong. Mar-12-26    OhioChessFan: I'm pretty sure I got it. There's a lot of variations to work through after the first move so I'm not sure yet. Mar-12-26    OhioChessFan: Definitely have it. Incredible sequence of moves. Mar-12-26    Fusilli: <OCF> Great! Okay, here we go: click for larger view Fundamental feature of the position: A pawn endgame, with the b-pawns gone and the rook gone, is a win for black. White has a draw with the line posted earlier, but here's the win: 1.Rg5! Now black has to choose whether to capture the rook, making the white h-pawn a passer, or ignore the rook sac, letting white capture the f-pawn, making the f-pawn a passer. Let's see both: 1...hxg5 2.h6 b2 3.h7 click for larger view Now black has two choices: promotion or gxf4. Let's see both. 3...b1=Q 4.h8=Q+ Ka2 (4...Qb2+ 5.Qxb2+ and 3.fxg5, white wins) 5.Qa8+ Kb2 6.Qxb7+ followed by the exchange of queens and fxg5, white wins. 3...gxf4 4.h8=Q is an easy win. The only theoretical draws with queen vs king are with h-pawn or f-pawn on the seventh rank. The g-pawn loses. White's queen will force the black king to g-pawn promotion square over and over until the white king is close enough. A typical mate looks like this: click for larger view where black has to play Kc1 and Qd1 is mate. Back to move 1, what if 1...b2? Then 2.Rxf5 b1=Q click for larger view 3.Ra5+ Kb2 4.Rb5+ and after trading rook for queen, white wins with the f-passer again. I saw this problem on Instagram, without attribution. Social media has killed attribution. A pity to take credit away from chess composers (if it is a composition). I don't even know if the position comes from an actual game. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 121) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 119 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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