Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Jan-17-26 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 6341 times to chessgames   [more...]

Jan-12-26 Fusilli chessforum   Fusilli: <arek> Good to see you around here, my friend, though those are distressing news I'm sorry to hear. I have now recovered, I am back in the classroom, life has returned to normal. I still have a minor lingering cough, which I hope gets tired of me and leaves me soon. Cheers.      Jan-10-26 Sax vs Karpov, 1989    Fusilli: <perfidious> Well, that merits some discussion. For a while, white has been preferring d3 in move 5 or 6, but if white chooses the traditional closed set up, and doesn't go for 8.a4, the Breyer continues to be black's top preference on move 9. (I play it frequently in blitz ...      Jan-09-26 Kasparov vs Nunn, 1989    Fusilli: <Check It Out: I also assumed Nunn would be saved by something but if the kibitzing here is to be believed, it's Kasparov who was fortunate to make a draw.> My reaction too, though without reading any kibitzing first. I played through the game and got the feeling that Kasparov      Jan-04-26 NN vs G Chandler, 1995   Fusilli: Or Ke7 instead of Nxc1, right? I'm happy to see Ke7 and not O-O, btw. Reminds me of the famous Ed Lasker vs G Thomas, 1912 , where many folks claim that O-O-O# would have been "cool" by comparison to the "boring" Kd2#, which Lasker played. Nonsense. The king doesn't need to rush to      Jan-03-26 chessgames.com chessforum    Fusilli: Suggestion: Can the Russian Championship Superfinal (2005) , which he won, be added to the list of Sergei Rublevsky notable tournaments?      Jan-02-26 Petrosian vs Unzicker, 1960   Fusilli: That king relocation is epic. No reason to rush g4!      Jan-02-26 Biographer Bistro    Fusilli: Can Russian Championship Superfinal (2005) , which he won, be added to the list of Sergei Rublevsky notable tournaments?      Jan-01-26 Portisch vs I Radulov, 1974    Fusilli: This is absolutely mind-boggling.      Jan-01-26 A Isanzhulov vs Ivanchuk, 2025   Fusilli: Poor Ivanchuk.      Dec-30-25 M Miazhynski vs J Durana, 2025    Fusilli: Wait, what? 6.O-O? Bc5? Surely someone messed up the score sheet!

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 39 OF 114 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-02-12    Fusilli: <scormus> Are you an opera man too? I confess my operatic background is really weak on Wagner, but otherwise I am above the average bear. My dad sang a little bit in the second tier opera circuit in Buenos Aires (he auditioned for Colon Theather once and didn't make it). I studied singing with an opera teacher for a couple of years back in the early 90s. I have a tenor-sounding voice, but I don't have the highest notes in the tenor range. But if sing a baritone part I sound like a tenor singing a baritone part, which is not very charming. Anyway, I quit singing attempts for dancing years ago. I seem to be much better at dancing. I love being an opera spectator, though. I agree on your evaluation of the sabbatical term. Vanderbilt uses "research leave", but I think "study leave" is appropriate too, as I know of cases of established professors who, mid-career, changed their field of interest to explore something anew, something they could do thanks to being away from the classroom for a semester. Dec-02-12    Fusilli: <waustad> Check this out: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp... Dec-02-12    scormus: <Fusilli> Oh, just now and again, but I feel it's quality rather than quantity. I'm not really into German opera. My preference is for Italian - it strikes deep into the emotions. I'll never forget after one peformance in Turin, seeing this tough latino, probably worked as a hit man for the Mafia, visibly fighting to bite back the tears. Yeah, Verdi, Puccini, Catalani .... there's some serious heartbreak. But have been difficult between tenor and baritone (between hero and villain). Dec-02-12    Fusilli: <scormus> According to my dad, the Italian baritones had this complaint: "I baritoni all'opera lirica cantiamo, cantiamo e cantiamo, ma al final la bella facia la fa sempre il tenore". I am sure my spelling is wrong somewhere. It means "We the baritones at the opera sing, sing, and sing, but at the end the pretty face is always the tenor's". I hear you. Puccini and Verdi are up there in my preferences too. Dec-03-12    scormus: You might not know the whole opera "La Wally" but I expect you know the incredibly moving aria "Ebben? n'andro lontano". The person who isn't moved simply isn't human. http://www.amazon.com/Catalani-Wall... Dec-03-12    Fusilli: <scormus> I'm human! I'm human! I just listened to it on youtube (Maria Callas and Angela Gheorghiu). Dec-03-12    Mrs. Alekhine: My dear <Semi-obscure Pasta Shaped after a Famous Cat> That means a lot to me, coming from you. Sadly, it might take me a year more to finish the next one, since I've foolishly essayed a documentary on "Johnny Alekhine." However, now I'm thinking it might have been a a lot easier to document an essay on him. It's been one year already researching and assembling materials, some of which I've actually looked at and read. The amount of both is vast. With players like <Nezh>, the paucity of information ensured a timely completion date. On the bright side, here is a list of games collections of every single tournament Johnny played in, that might take 10 years to finish: Game Collection: Alekhine Tournament Collection (Complete List) Dec-03-12    Fusilli: <Mrs Alekhine> Nice to see you over here. Has anyone told you you look a lot like Mr Alekhine? It does sound like a monumental project. Best wishes! Dec-04-12    scormus: If you like opera I'm sure you enjoyed Carlsen-Jones. For drama value it's worthy of anything by Puccini! Dec-04-12    Fusilli: <scormus> Yeah! Jones' lady was certainly a drama queen. Dec-04-12    Fusilli: <scormus> ... committed opera-style suicide and, like in opera, it was in vein. Dec-05-12    Fusilli: I'll play the Nashville championship second city qualifier on December 15! My last tourney was the city championship finals last January and I am excited to play again. The city championship finals is for six players. Four slots have been filled and the other two come from the December 15 qualifier. The four slots so far are: (FM) Todd Andrews (DefendingChampion), (FM) Nazreen Bakri Anas, (IM) Ronald Burnett and (NM) Kenneth Holroyd. I hope I can qualify! Dec-05-12    Fusilli: Of course, my hidden weapon is my deep opening preparation with honorary GM <hms123>! Dec-07-12    scormus: <Fusilli> You would know of course about the spelling of Scylla ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:J... Dec-07-12    Fusilli: <scormus> Yes! I knew that painting! Very powerful. Fuseli specialized in terrorific, macabre or overly dramatic themes. How about the nightmare? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F... Dec-09-12    scormus: A very disturbing scene! Imagine a dark parody of a Shakespeare play. Call it "A Midsummer Night's Nightmare"? Dec-11-12    Fusilli: <scormus> I wonder if Fuseli has a painting depicting the flu. I caught the flu, I'm miserable. Have been sick since I woke up on Saturday. Not feeling much better yet. It sucks to be sick... It appears I will not play the Nashville city qualifiers after all... Dec-15-12    scormus: <I wonder if Fuseli has a painting depicting the flu> If he did, it would be horrible. Look after yourself, keep warm and ge well soon. Dec-18-12    Fusilli: <scormus> Thanks. The flu ran its course and I am back in Nashville now. Dec-24-12    wordfunph: Merry Christmas! Dec-24-12    WinKing: Merry Christmas to you and yours Mariano! Dec-24-12    chancho: Merry Christmas <Fusilli>! Dec-25-12    crawfb5: Merry Christmas! Glad to hear you are home and well. Dec-25-12    morfishine: <Fusilli> Merry Christmas! I hope you have a pleasant Holiday Season! Dec-25-12    meloncio: Gracias y Feliz Navidad también! Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 114) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 39 OF 114 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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