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 32 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Aug-03-11    chancho: <Fusilli> Out of curiousity, did you study Roberto Grau's books on chess? Aug-03-11    Fusilli: <H> Nice article!! I loved it! Congratulations to you and <The World Team>! <Chancho> Yes! It was a must for Argentine players of my generation. Not that I remember much about it, though. Maybe I paid more attention to Fine than to Grau. Aug-06-11    chancho: <Fusilli> My wife is looking at the video of the wedding and photos right now. My daughter leaves tomorrow for Germany. It's going to be hard to take, (since I'll miss her dearly.) but she'll be alright. (The wonders of Skype.) My Son in Law is a nice guy. No plans on his part to go after my fortune, since there isn't any. :-) Aug-09-11    chancho: <Fusilli> http://image.listen.com/img/170x170... Aug-09-11    OhioChessFan: User: decade Aug-09-11    izimbra: <OCF> is correct. My avatar is the cover photo from Neil Young's Decade album: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade... Apparently pictured, is a guy (Neil?) sunbathing in a yoga like position using a guitar case as a backrest. The connection to the album? Dunno, the tracks _Cowgirl in the Sand_ and _Cortez the Killer_ have some arid scenery, but I tend to think of the lyrics "Big birds flying across the sky Throwing shadows on our eyes" from the song _Helpless_. Aug-10-11    OhioChessFan: I think <chancho> beat me to it anyway. Aug-11-11    Fusilli: <izimbra> <chancho> <OCF> Thanks for the clarification. My best guesses were some guy coming out of a giant vase or painted egg, and a helicopter (!) Oct-02-11    Knight13: <Fusilli> What level classes do you teach at Vanderbilt, if any? Oct-07-11    Fusilli: <K> Hi there! I've been underground for a while... For undergraduates, I have taught (and I am currently teaching) a junior/senior level class on "Population & Society" and a research methods class. In the spring I will teach one on "Immigration in America". I have also taught an advanced statistics class to graduate students. I've been at Vandy for only two years, and two semesters I didn't teach at all, so I don't have many courses under my belt yet... How are you doing at Emory? Nov-06-11    Fusilli: 2011 Mid-State Action Open, round 4 (time control G30): Mariano Sana (2144) v. FM Todd Andrews (2321) Position after 25...Nxg4: click for larger view Question: Can white play 26.h3? Nov-06-11    Fusilli: 2011 Mid-State Action Open, round 5 (time control G30) Ali Alataiwi (1837) v. Mariano Sana (2144) This game was an exact reproduction of Tuck Matthew vs B Moran, 1996 up to move 18.Nc2: click for larger view If you ask me, Black is completely winning. Moran played 18...Kd7 and somehow squandered the advantage and ended up drawing. I played 18...Nd5 and won four moves later. Nov-11-11    OhioChessFan: <Question: Can white play 26.h3?> Looks all right, but I would want to trade a pair of Rooks first. <If you ask me, Black is completely winning.> I'd have gone for 18...Bd6. Nov-12-11    Fusilli: <OCF> Actually, my question should have been if Black had 26...Nxf2 (followed by Qf6+) against 26.h3. He doesn't because of the back rank weakness. I played 26.h3 and after 26...Nf6 and the trading of all rooks the game quickly ended in a draw. Trading rooks first looks fine too. In the game with Alataiwi, I'm sure 18...Bd6 is fine. I played 18...Nd5 because White is tied up. If a knight moves, the b4 pawn falls. If 19.a3 (the move in the game) Nf4 is very strong. And if 19.g3 Rc8. Thanks for posting, <OCF>! Nov-27-11    Fusilli: My mother, Ernestina, passed away on Thanksgiving Day after a long battle with lung disease and heart failure. I was fortunate enough to be visiting my family in Argentina when this unfortunate event happened. She was 86 years old. Her call in life was to be of help and service to others, a genuine community builder. As a social worker she served in both the private and public sector. Most of her working life she worked for the government of the city of Buenos Aires with underserved populations in low-income neighborhoods. She was involved in church activities as well until poor health prevented her from continuing. She was the person everyone called when they needed support or advice. Always ready to help, always empathetic. My dad (84) is coming to terms with it, one day at a time. My brother, myself and the rest of us are okay, busy with things that need to be done now. Please have a nice thought or prayer for the kindest of ladies. Warmly, Mariano Sana, a.k.a. Fusilli Nov-27-11    chancho: I'm sorry for your loss, <Fusilli>. Nov-27-11    Travis Bickle: God Bless you and your family in your loss. Nov-27-11    benjinathan: Mariano - my thoughts are with you. Nov-27-11    Fusilli: <Chancho>, <Travis>, <benjinathan>, thank you so much. Dec-02-11    Fusilli: Note to self: talk to <hms123> to make plans to get together for opening prep for the Nashville City Championship. The championship is a round robin with six players, including the current champion, IM Ronald Burnett and FM Todd Andrews. It will take place the weekend of January 7-8. Dec-02-11    hms123: <Fusilli> Note to self: Count on it. Dec-03-11    WinKing: <Fusilli: Hi Greg! Long time no see. I was wondering what these "marker for move..." diagrams mean...> Hi Mariano! Yes long time no see. I have been busy with 'the World' vs. GM Akobian game here at chessgames. I was one of the forum hosts that carried analysis for the various moves we were considering. The 'markers' were just letting the analysts know where we were at & which move(s) my forum was looking at. It really hasn't mattered much lately though as the game will be drawn in a couple of more moves. I hope all has been well with you. Are you still playing in any tournaments? I remember you said your teaching duties don't allow for too much time during the school year to play. Keep me posted if you do enter any as I will always be one of your supporters & be rooting for you! :) Dec-06-11    WinKing: <Fusilli: Yes, I can't play much OTB chess, but I did play a small tournament in November and qualified for the city championship. It will be a 6-player round-robin the weekend of January 7-8 and it will include the defending champion IM Ron Burnett, as well as FM Todd Andrews.> Well I will be rooting for you my friend. Mr. Burnett & Mr. Andrews better steer clear because Mariano will be 'in the house' & is taking no prisoners. ;) Good luck in advance Mariano!!! Dec-24-11    WinKing: Happy Holidays to you <Fusilli>! Good luck in the upcoming Nashville City Championship!!! Jan-12-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> Dude, I just looked you up on USCF to see how you did in your last tournament. Congratulations on beating IM Burnett! Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 32 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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