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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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 34 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-22-12    Fusilli: Well, Wayne, my research has been a bit stagnant lately. Since I am the director of the doctoral program in my department, I tend to have a lot of administrative work, which sometimes I feel takes research time away. But last semester was difficult, for a variety of reasons. Also, I had a health issue: a kidney stone that went down and got stuck in my ureter... I ended up having a surgical procedure last Monday. I've been home recovering all week. I should be back in business on Monday and back in the classroom on Tuesday. So, I've been teaching and doing administrative work, but my research has been going slow. I expect to have a good spring semester, though. To begin, I am going to attend two conferences where I am committed to present, so that will force me to get some new research done! Speaking of chess clubs, the Nashville Chess Center is a huge house, and it should be entirely possible to have a weekly tournament in a quiet room. It is open Mondays and Wednesdays, and as it is usually the case in the U.S., most activities are for kids. But still, the place is so big that a quiet room should be possible. I will talk to the club manager (FM Todd Andrews) about it. Thanks for dropping by! Nice to see you around here! Jan-23-12    brankat: Hi! One is never too old for sociological research, on the other hand, that may not be the case with successful participation in OTB tournaments :-) I don't know why, but for some reason I've always thought that Vanderbilt University was located somewhere in Maryland or New York state. One really does learn something new every day :-) Jan-23-12    WinKing: I see you added a few games to your player page - very nice! :) Jan-24-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> I recommend you try this Guess-the-Move: Fritz vs E F Pecci, 2001. Jan-24-12    Fusilli: <K> Oh boy, I haven't done a <Guess the Move> in a while... I should get back to it. Jan-28-12    Fusilli: I like my job, I even love it. I like the work I do too. What I don't like is working. So, since working is necessary, I am happy about my job. But if working weren't necessary, I would rather not work! Does that make sense? Jan-28-12    crawfb5: "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork." -- Peter De Vries Jan-28-12    Fusilli: <crawfb5> That's a good one! Jan-31-12    Knight13: Mayfield vs Trinks, 1959 Jan-31-12    Fusilli: <K> lol Jan-31-12    Knight13: Also see L Darling vs R Wood, 1983. Jan-31-12    Fusilli: <K> Come on! I noticed you've been giving yourself a tour through some 19th century world championship chess... I just took a look at the 1982 Las Palmas interzonal. Jan-31-12    Fusilli: Of course, I should be working instead. I have lots of applications for grad school to review. In fact, going back to it. Right now! Feb-01-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> They are fun games to play through and analyze. :-) What kind of applications do you review for grad school? People who want to get M.A./Ph.D. in Sociology, I guess? Feb-01-12    Fusilli: <K> Exactly. Well, just PhD. The M.A. is just collected on the way to the Ph.D. We only accept applications to the Ph.D. program. About 160 applications this year, for 10 slots. It's very competitive. Feb-01-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> So how do you choose among so many [qualified] applicants for so little space? And why are there only 10 slots open? Feb-01-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> By the way, check out the games between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell. They're highly entertaining and crazy! Feb-02-12    Fusilli: <K> I love that one where black ends up with three pawns on the seventh rank. One of my favorite games ever. Will tell you later about the selection process for the PhD program here. Gotta run to teach at 8am! Feb-03-12    Albertan: Mariano I am sad to hear that you have been having health problems.I have had kidney stone problems myself in my life several times and talk about pain!! (Off the pain scale.Fortunately I have not had reoccurring kidney stones like some people have had.)Therefore I have all kinds of empathy for you!! Marino, that must take a great deal of work on your part to be the director of the doctorate program in your department. Having had my father be a professor I know how he was always saying he had no time because of his commitment to certain programs and committees.You are an amazing person to be able to balance so many hats at once,I envy you and Vanderbilt University its staff and students are lucky and blessed to have you working there!! Best wishes on your research and your papers to these conferences, a Professor's work is never done (again as I found out from my father after talking with him).I hope you are feeling better now! I also hope you are able to get a weekly tournament set up at the Nashville Chess Center.Best wishes to you! It would be nice if and when you get the weekly tournament set up that you tell us how things are going with it, when you have the time in your busy schedule,thanks if you can do this. Feb-04-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> Ha, that game is certainly a memorable one! It's in a quite a few chess books and game collections. Eagerly awaiting your reply. :-) Feb-04-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> The game with three passed pawns on the seventh rank: McDonnell vs La Bourdonnais, 1834. Feb-04-12    Fusilli: Hey, <K>, how is it going? I am quite busy this weekend, reviewing applications to grad school. If you ever decide to apply to grad school, ask me for advice on how to package your application. There are a bunch of "do's" and "do not's". Is there any other games where three pawns end up on the seventh rank, even if not neighboring pawns? Feb-04-12    Knight13: <Fusilli> Got it. Thank you for the offer! :-D Sorry, I do not know any other games with three pawns up on the seventh rank. That one is the only one I know. (I'm doing fine, by the way, thanks for asking. Not too much going on at the moment.) Feb-04-12    Phony Benoni: <Fusilli> Here are a couple of games with three--or more--passed pawns on the seventh rank: Janowski vs Ed Lasker, 1924, after <67.e7>: click for larger view Without doubt, one of the craziest games ever played. In all senses of the word. F J Lee vs H Shoosmith, 1904, after <57...b2+> click for larger view Unique. I'll see if I can find some more. Feb-05-12    Phony Benoni: <Fusilli>: Game Collection: Pretty Maids All in a Row Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 34 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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