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.)

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!

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 27 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-30-11    SwitchingQuylthulg: Exactly how does one screw up move 10? ;-) Anyway, I scored a zero-pointer as early as the very first guessable move, so you aren't the only one with opening problems. The endgame is pretty easy, I doubt you'll miss many points there. Jan-30-11    dakgootje: Alright, I messed up 11, 12 and 13 to be more precise. Wanted to play real move 13 at 11; the opposite same at move 12 and something completely different when 13 actually was played. Think I got like 1-2 out of the possible 9 points or something there :P Jan-30-11    dakgootje: Anyway [yes, this should've been in the previous post] after supper I 'had' to play a quick tournament [where I probably will be knocked out within the next 5 minutes].. So I have not yet progressed to even the second half of the game!! Perhaps I should adopt the name 'turtle' :D Jan-30-11    dakgootje: Well, just to illustrate how grim it looks for me to beat the 92: At move-to-guess 19 I could get 66 more points, since I had 31, that meant a max. of 97. Just spend a long time thinking on move 24, could not get it to work until... I thought I did, quickly moved and it was wrong - so a -1 there :P In other words, playing flawless I now have a max score of 93. Arrriiiigght :P Jan-30-11    SwitchingQuylthulg: Sounds like you got full points for moves 21 and 22, while I scored a zero for both. Interesting :) Anyway, I think I <did> score all 3s from move 24 on. Maybe you can do the same. Jan-30-11    dakgootje: Yes, had a different move at 21 but apparently just as good for I got full points. And at move 22 I thought "Hold on! Why did I not play this already?!" and that was correct :P Thought I had a nice little tactic at move 26. I didn't. So -1 there, 3s after that. Pondering over 36 as I see no more than perpetuals :\ Score now 74, so current max is 89. Jan-30-11    dakgootje: Uhlmann vs J H Donner, 1964. YOU ARE PLAYING THE ROLE OF UHLMANN. Your score: 88 (par = 78) At move 37 I thought there were 2 roads to victory but the one I choose only scored 2 points. Heh, so if I had paid better attention at 26 I might've equalled your 92 -- if only, if only :D Jan-30-11    Fusilli: <dak> Well, 88 was not bad, considering things looked grim early on. Maybe you have to play more conservative. Remember GTM games are regular games, they are not like "White to play and win" every move... Most of the nice tactics we see the GMs saw them earlier and the one on the defensive side, most likely, did not allow it to happen. I am just back from a couple of tango classes. I am hosting the teachers and a couple of friends from out of town who came here for the classes. All went well, and there is a dance tonight... everyone will probably be practicing their new tricks! Jan-31-11    dakgootje: You are right of course - 88 is really not that bad, but the game is not too hard as SQ mentioned. Regarding the tactic.. it was at the end of a combination so not really a 'Astonishing! He just hangs his rook'-type of situation. Simply completely overlooked a defending knight.. I would claim sleepiness, but it was only around 9pm or something :( How did the dance go - got around to showing off all your tricks? ;) Jan-31-11    SwitchingQuylthulg: <dakgootje: Regarding the tactic.. it was at the end of a combination so not really a 'Astonishing! He just hangs his rook'-type of situation.> Not the type of tactic I tend to overlook, then ;-) Feb-02-11    Fusilli: Saw <Charlie Wilson's War> last night. Good movie, with smart touches of humor. Americans and US residents should enjoy it. It may (or may not) be distasteful for others, though. Feb-05-11    Fusilli: I saw <The Squid and the Whale> (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367089/) and Sirens (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111201/). The former is a recommendable drama. The latter is underrated at imdb (at 5.8)... I thought it was much better than that. Hugh Grant plays a priest trying to convince an artist to withdraw certain profane painting from an exhibit. He is a guest, with his wife (Tara Fitzgerald), at the artist's country house, and his wife hangs out with the models and what she experiences is the core of the movie. Engaging movie, don't believe the 5.8. And it's kind of nice to see Hugh Grant in that role, where he is neither the romantic heroe nor the winner. I have to get back to the classics, though... Feb-17-11    benjinathan: Are you Fusilli on ICC? I will lokk for you. Or better yet I will get one of my kids to look for you. Feb-17-11    Fusilli: <benjinathan> I *am* the <Fusilli> on ICC! What are your kids' user names? Feb-17-11    benjinathan: All three (and sometimes me) play under the same name: nathanbenji. They tend to play standard since they have been promosed a Wii if they can get to 1700. But will keep a look out for you at 5-0! Feb-18-11    benjinathan: Just missed you last night on ICC. I see that you are much higher rated than my kids (realistically they are about 1650 standard). I would be grateful if you consented to play at least one game against one of them. Feb-18-11    Fusilli: <benjinathan> Yes, I'll be happy to play them. If I hit "decline" when they match me, tell them to try again. It would have been accidental. Feb-18-11    benjinathan: < Fusilli> Thanks Fusilli. I appreciate that. Feb-20-11    dakgootje: If at some point - you are out of movies to watch: go and see "The King's speech". It's is very new (competing at this years Oscars), but has an absolutely terrific performance by Colin Firth! Would be very surprised if he would not get the award for Best Actor. Feb-21-11    Fusilli: <dak> On my list now! I've been so busy that I had to put my movie-watching on hold... Right now I have four guests staying in my house, including my nephew from Argentina, with me for three weeks... Feb-21-11    dakgootje: Oh, that's nice! :) There is no hurry - don't think it is even out on dvd yet :D Mar-21-11    Knight13: <Fusilli> Come back soon (to your forum). :-) Mar-23-11    Fusilli: <Knight> Here I am, here I am, lurking in the shadows... I've been so busy with work (after my guests left). Was planning to play an open in Missouri last weekend but had to give up. I'll see if I manage to make time for a GTM game soon. How's life at Emory? Mar-23-11    Knight13: <Fusilli> My life at Emory is currently very sunny. And I will make sure the sun stays in the open. Everything is going according to plan. Whatever dares to stand in my way gets run over. >-) How about yours at Vanderbilt? I hope "busy" in your case does not mean "not having fun." Mar-24-11    Fusilli: "fun"? I wonder what that is... I can't say it's being fun lately. It's not horrible either, but it is hectic and stressful, all having to do with the next couple of days, when our "recruits" (the applicants we've made offers to and some alternates) will be visiting the department, and I am in charge of organizing the visit and all the activities. Thank God a student is helping me, or I'd go crazy. I'm talking about applicants to grad school, by the way. I am the DGS (Director of Graduate Studies) in my department, which means I am in charge of the doctoral program... The goal is to persuade those we've made offers to to accept the offer and come to Vanderbilt for their graduate studies in sociology. I shouldn't complain much, though. After all, I am a salesman at heart, so persuading people is something I enjoy. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 27 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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