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!

indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 40 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-25-12    hms123: <Fusilli> Thanks, and I hope your New Year is a very good one. See you soon. Dec-30-12    scormus: Yesterday evening saw my first ever live Wagner opera "Der Fliegende Hollaender". Very powerful performances. And very Germanic the way it kept firing the emotional cannon, in case you didn't quite get the full impact first time (or three). All the best for 2013! Dec-30-12    Fusilli: <scormus> Awesome! The Nashville Opera is putting up Cinderella in late January. I plan to go! The rest of the season is Magic Flute (which I no longer care much for... got tired of it) and... this: http://www.nashvilleopera.org/FIELD... which sounds pretty interesting! I am definitely going! Unfortunately, I missed Madame Butterfly last October because I was in Colorado. Dec-31-12    Fusilli: New Year's resolution for 2013: get back up to 2200 USCF rating! Dec-31-12    hms123: <Fusilli> You can start with the puzzle at my place. It has your name on it. Happy New Year! Dec-31-12    brankat: Happy New Year Mariano! Dec-31-12    crawfb5: <M> Happy New Year and good luck with your resolution! I've been having trouble with resolutions ever since I had to get reading glasses a few years ago. Dec-31-12    chancho: Feliz Año Nuevo, <Fusilli>! Dec-31-12    morfishine: <Fusilli> You are very kind to drop by! Please, provide some links to your games listed in the <CG> database. I am always interested in all kinds of intriguing chess positions; and don't feel the least bit 'self-centered' in doing so. I've always felt that chess is the one vocation where its 'ok' to present what one is proud of, without the connotation of conceit or vanity; If you have a great game, show it. If you have an interesting position, show it. What you have accomplished may be special to you, but would be a loss to us if we didn't know. Chess is after-all, an individual endeavor, and thus may only be known to the originator; Please think that what you can share, benefits all A Happy New Year to you and your Family! Best, Morf Jan-01-13    WinKing: Happy New Year Mariano! All the best to you in 2013! Jan-01-13    wordfunph: Prof. Mariano, prosperous new year! Jan-01-13    scormus: All the best for 2013 ..... and if you like red-blooded drama, this could be the ultimate performance of Tosca performed by Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel as Scarpia Available on Amazon (Bryn Terfel could be to opera as Gawain Jones is to chess) Jan-07-13    Fusilli: <scormus> Tosca is such a powerful opera. In my choir years, a long time ago, we had a running joke when we thought that a (male) singer was not too good. We would say something like "Oh, he is really good, he played Count Palmeri in Tosca!" Perhaps you remember this: when Scarpia orders the "fake" execution of Cavaradossi, he tells his underling "come faciamo con il Conte Palmeri" ("as we did with Count Palmeri.") Since Count Palmeri was executed for real, then his underling understands it's not going to be a fake execution at all. Of course, that is the only reference to Count Palmeri in the whole opera. Never shows up, let alone sings! Feb-13-13    morfishine: Hi <Fusilli> Glad you liked that interview of Carlsen! His reactions and non-reactions are hilarious, like you said :) Feb-14-13    Fusilli: <morf> Actually, I sent the link to a bunch of non-chess friends who know who Carlsen is (and, of course, they know who Rainn Wilson is). Two of my favorite celebrities together, that's a treat. And Carlsen is such a good sport. I think Anand and Carlsen have raised the bar of gentlemanship in the elite chess world. I have little patience anymore for Kasparov-like personalities. Carlsen's mild self-deprecation is refreshing. Feb-16-13    Expendable Asset: <Fusilli> How do you plan on going back to 2200? Feb-19-13    Fusilli: <EA> Uh oh. I guess I need a plan... Feb-22-13    Expendable Asset: <Fusilli> Affirmative. Mar-02-13    Fusilli: <EA> Hmm... can't make plans before the summer. I will only be able to travel for chess then... But I also have a lot of research to do this summer. I don't know, maybe I am closing business as far as competitive chess goes. I've been slowly going downhill for a while anyway... Mar-02-13    Expendable Asset: <Fusilli> Then instead of slowly going downhill, grab a snowboard and have fun! Mar-03-13    Fusilli: <EA> I should! Mar-04-13    Expendable Asset: <Fusilli> Are you good at deception? Mar-04-13    dakgootje: I am! No I'm not.. :( Mar-04-13    Fusilli: <dak> You almost got me there for a second! You would be good at it if you had more confidence in yourself ;) As for me, I am a pretty bad liar. I am too transparent. It can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the circumstances... You? (<EA>?) Mar-05-13    Expendable Asset: <Fusilli> No. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 40 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific user only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

You are not logged in to chessgames.com. If you need an account, register now; it's quick, anonymous, and free! If you already have an account, click here to sign-in.