User Profile: Fusilli

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Fusilli
Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Oct-07-25

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 6255 times to chessgames [more...]

   Oct-07-25 Hikaru Nakamura

Fusilli: Back in the day, I would sometimes resign by picking up my king and placing it in front of my opponent. And one day I read that a GM (I think Sosonko) did the same thing, while saying, "here's, it's yours." So, sure, one for the crowd, why not.

   Sep-15-25 L Mendonca vs M Yilmaz, 2024

Fusilli: <perfidious> <There have been POTDs presented by <cg> which have featured positions which were analogous to practical games rather than guess the move> Not sure I follow. To me, Guess-the-Move games do reflect practical play, since you have to make every move, ...

   Sep-12-25 Leon Mendonca

Fusilli: Mendonca, no doubt originally spelled with a c-cedilla instead of a c, is a Portuguese surname, a reminder that Portugal colonized parts of India since as early as the 16th century.

   Sep-12-25 A Mittal vs Y K Erdogmus, 2025

Fusilli: <FSR: Insane! The kid is a genius! I say he's a future world champion.> I share your enthusiasm but not your evaluation. The combination is absolutely beautiful but not hard to see for a strong player. It's a straight set of forced moves. I think it would be a Friday puzzle ...

   Sep-10-25 Fusilli chessforum

Fusilli: <OCF> I'm kind of proud of myself I got it. The word puzzle was apt! Where did you source it from?

   Sep-07-25 Karpov vs K Rogoff, 1971

Fusilli: Vintage Karpov gives a lesson on superior positional play. Every piece going to the right square at the right time. Or pretty close to that.

   Sep-07-25 S Marangunic vs K Rogoff, 1971

Fusilli: <FTB> OK, here we go. I thought 16.Bxf6 was dubious. Why give up the bishop pair in a fairly open position? 16.Ne3 looks better to me. I was wondering what could be wrong with 23.Nb5. It turns out that after 23...Bf8 24.Rxd7 Rxd7 25.Nxa7 meets ...Bc5 followed by ...Rd2, which ...

   Sep-07-25 Fridrik Olafsson

Fusilli: <perf> oh, right, I see

   Sep-06-25 Peter Enders

Fusilli: <He died on his birthday :( > Very sad. It reminded me of this demographic research article I saw decades ago: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/143... Abstract: <This study of deaths from natural causes examined adult mortality around the birthday for two samples, ...

   Sep-03-25 So vs D Gukesh, 2025

Fusilli: <beatgiant> Because I didn't see it? Or I like complicating things, especially my life? Who knows!

indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 15 OF 112 · Later Kibitzing>
Oct-31-10		Knight13: <Fusilli> Happy Halloween, Fusilli!

Nov-01-10		Fusilli: < Knight13: <Fusilli> Happy Halloween, Fusilli! > And Happy Halloween to you! How many costume parties did you go to? I went to three... I am totally partied out.

Nov-03-10		Albertan: <Fusilli: < Knight13: <Fusilli> Happy> <Halloween, Fusilli! > And Happy> <Halloween to you! How many costume> <parties did you go to? I went to> <three... I am totally partied out> Wow Mariano talk about the Halloween Spirit! You must have fun! I learned something new on Halloween,there is a shark named a "Goblin Shark" that lives deep in the ocean depths: http://dsc.discovery.com/sharks/gob...

Nov-03-10		hms123: POTD: Guimard vs Euwe, 1946 That didn't take long!

Nov-03-10		hms123: <Mariano> I went to the POTD page--and the cg folks screwed up and listed it as <34.?> rather than <34....?>. Bummer.

Nov-03-10		Fusilli: <H> I am checking it for the first time at 12:30pm, and it does say "Black to move". Did it say "White to move" earlier?

Nov-03-10		Fusilli: <Albertan> Wow, impressive creature. I wonder what the link was between Halloween and the Goblin shark.

Nov-03-10		hms123: <Mariano> Absolutely it did. Check the early kibitzing--esp the post from the cg admins.

Nov-04-10		Albertan: <<Fusilli: <Albertan> Wow, impressive> <creature. I wonder what the link> < was between Halloween and the > <Goblin shark.> Mariano, not much is known about the goblin shark. It was first discovered off the coast of Japan in the late 19th century. Very few specimens have been seen, but they have been sighted in all parts of the world. Since they are known to exist at depths nearing and below 1000 feet below the ocean's surface, it is believed that they exist in sufficient numbers as not to be near extinction. However, many shark species are endangered. I read what a scientist said online about sharks. He said if all the sharks go extinct or even alot of them, human existence on the planet is seriously in doubt. This is because sharks eat fish and other creatures and this process keeps the levels of phytoplankton in check. In the process of photosynthesis, phytoplankton release oxygen into the water. Half of the world's oxygen is produced via phytoplankton photosynthesis. If the apex predators disappear from the planet so will our oxygen. You think the media would have been told this, yet all you seem to hear about sharks on the TV or in the newspaper, is when a shark attacks a human being. It is so disgusting to see these shark-attack stories day-in-day out.

Nov-15-10		Fusilli: A strategic puzzle: N Miezis vs Beliavsky, 2010 Position after 44.Qf3-g3: click for larger view 44...? My engine agrees with Beliavsky's choice. While it is not much better than the next three choices, it does show clarity of strategic thinking.

Nov-20-10		Fusilli: Music City Fall Open, round 1 Mariano Sana (2177) v Lucas Pao (1037) This kid, as it is typical with kids, is a lot stronger than his rating suggests. By move 15 I was better, but I squandered the advantage into rough equality. However, I was able to exploit queenside weaknesses to reach this: Position after 27.Qb4-e7: click for larger view Black to play. The only defense was 27...Nf8, and the continuation could be 28.Ne5 Qb7 29.Qe8 and White is clearly better. He played something else and I won quickly. I think kids learn to attack before learning to defend... Lucas is improving quickly. I expect to see him at 1500 in a year or less. A puzzle. Position after 33...Nf6: click for larger view What is the strongest play for White?

Nov-20-10		hms123: <Mariano> <What is the strongest play for White?> Ask Black to resign. My second thought, of course, was <Qg6+>, but then I quickly saw <Bg8+>. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Nov-20-10		dakgootje: <I think kids learn to attack before learning to defend...> Naturally, it is hard enough to try to find traps and plans for yourself - let alone for the opponent and counteract them :D Besides, attacking is more fun because you dictate the game. ..and in all honesty, I am not much of a defender; no grand-master title in my future ;) <What is the strongest play for White?> I did also notice the fun 1. Qh8+ Kxh8 2. Ng6+ Kh7 3. Nf8+ for a perpetual -- however, the problem was not 'White to play and squander all its advantage only to go for the draw instead'. :)

Nov-20-10		Fusilli: <H, dak> Indeed, 34.Bg8+... I guess he saw that I'd win his queen if he took the bishop, so he played 34...Kh8 instead, which made the game 35 moves long. <the problem was not 'White to play and squander all its advantage only to go for the draw instead'> lol, that would have been a nice puzzle! I'm home now in between rounds 2 and 3. In round 2, believe it or not, I played a kid again (rated 1000-something)! She had gotten a 1-point bye in round 1. Again, I won on attack after setting up a strategic game. The game tonight should definitely be hard. Both Ronald Burnett and Todd Andrews are playing.

Nov-21-10		Fusilli: Music City Fall Open, 3rd round. FM Todd Andrews v Mariano Sana This was a Ruy Lopez Breyer, a slow strategic game. I am proud of how I handled the Black pieces through the early stages of the middlegame. I think I built a solid refuge for my king, and once I was done paying attention to defense, I moved on the queenside. Todd committed almost all his pieces to building an attack on the kingside, and we reached this position after 30.Be3-d2: click for larger view The time control is 90/30+G60, so this was my last move before time control. I had about 10 minutes left, thought for about 4 and played the weak 30...Nb6? The correct move was the other one I considered, 30...f6! and Black is clearly better. (I was worried about 31.h5 fxg5 32.Q moves and I thought White had attack, but he doesn't.) After 31.Rxa8 Qxa8 32.Nhf1 f6 (probably too late now) 33.h5 his attack did materialize and he conducted it very skillfully. 1-0 in 45.

Nov-21-10		hms123: <Mariano> In this position (after <33.h5>), click for larger view Houdini likes <33.Be8> and the position is still relatively even. Did you play <33.Qe8> instead? I'll bet defending against the attack was not that much fun--lots of hard choices.

Nov-21-10		Fusilli: <H> No, I went for 33...fxg5 34.hxg6 h6 35.Qh5 and the attack is strong. I ran the game by Fritz and once I lost the advantage I practically never played the best defensive move. This often happens to me, and I think to most people. Precise defense requires, sometimes, computer-like calculation. I play better when it is just about strategy. The good news is that I just drew IM Ronald Burnett. I will post something about that game later. I am in between games. The fifth and last starts in about one hour.

Nov-21-10		Fusilli: <H> PS. I know there still are decent defenses against 35.Qh5, but it got hard to find good moves/plans at that point.

Nov-21-10		hms123: <M> That's terrific--a draw against Burnett is a real accomplishment. I didn't mean to be critical of your defense, and I know defense is hard. As a (former) French player, I think I was often better on defense than attack, so I never minded the trench warfare that it took. Good luck in the last game.

Nov-22-10		Fusilli: <H> Oh, I didn't think you were critical. The silicon input is always welcome, anyway. I guess I sounded defensive. I wish I had been properly "defensive" when I had to! The last game was a draw too. I played a player rated 1771, so the satisfaction from drawing Burnett (rated about 200 points above me) disappeared after drawing with Armanios, about 400 points below me. I made no less than three double-question mark moves! Good ol' blunders! I'm lucky I didn't lose. I think I am getting old for the two-games-a-day routine. And both of my games today were long. I'll post some positions tomorrow. The tourney is over, btw. It was only five rounds.

Nov-22-10		hms123: <M> I look forward to seeing some of the games.

Nov-24-10		Albertan: Mariano, congratulations on your draw against IM Burnett. Having drawn with an IM in my chess career, I know how good it made me feel.

Nov-24-10		Albertan: Mariano <Thanks Wayne! I wish I could> <get back up to the 2200 rating. This> <tournament I lost 7 points and I am> <down to 2170... Mostly a result of> <being unable to beat a 1770 (or so)> <player in the fifth and last round.> <Burnett is 200 points above me, but> that player was 400 points below!> Well Mariano I am sure you can do it you just need a couple of good performances in the next two or 3 tournaments and you will be back again over 2100. I bet that this 1770 player has better ability than his rating if he can draw with you. < I have to say I get tired when I> <have two games in the same day.> Yes for sure,you really have to be in good physical shape to play in a weekend tournament these days. Up here in Alberta we have 5 round weekend tournaments, imagine playing 3 games on a Saturday and then having to be back to the club by 9 am to play in the 10 am round the next day? Talk about being exhausted around 6 pm on Sunday night! People up here want to get their monies worth! LOL Even if it kills them. <I plan to play another 5-round> <tournament in December, also at the> <Nashville Chess Center.> Best wishes to you in this event I hope you have a better performance in this tournament and a great holiday season! :)

Nov-24-10		Fusilli: <Albertan> And Happy Thanksgiving to you too... although you celebrated it already in early October, didn't you? I am home today, about to grade graduate students' statistics assignments... fun, fun, fun!

Nov-24-10		Fusilli: I've been enjoying going over a number of Najdorf-Reshevsky Nimzoindian games. It is clear that Reshevsky was strategically superior to Najdorf, but Najdorf was a formidable tactician. When he was able to mount an attack or to complicate, he gave Reshevsky headaches. Otherwise, Reshevsky generally managed to outplay him strategically. Very interesting games, highly recommended.

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