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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.)

>> Click here to see Fusilli's game collections.

Chessgames.com Full Member

   Fusilli has kibitzed 6255 times to chessgames   [more...]
   Oct-07-25 Hikaru Nakamura (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
Fusilli: <perf> oh, right, I see
 
   Sep-06-25 Peter Enders (replies)
 
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!
 
(replies) indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 52 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-28-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: How about this one?

Kudriashov v I.Ivanov, USSR 1979


click for larger view

Black to play.

Nunn writes:

<It takes some time to grasp what might be going on in this totally weird position. What should Black play, and what should the result be?>

Nunn gives it 3 stars (out of 5) on difficulty level, but I couldn't solve it. And I honestly believe it is harder than 3 stars.

Any takers out there?

Sep-04-15  BishopofBlunder: <When I post comments on this website, I always disclose if I am checking with my engine. Since I often do not, I may post flawed suggestions.>

No worries mate! All my suggestions are flawed.

Oh, and welcome to Chessgames! (10 years late)

Sep-05-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <BishopofBlunder: ... Oh, and welcome to Chessgames! (10 years late)>

Cheers!

Sep-09-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Solution to the puzzle from Nunn's book that I posted below (Kudriashov - I.Ivanov, USSR 1979).


click for larger view

Comments by Nunn.

1...Re1!

<Astonishingly, this wins by force.>

2.a8Q

<2.b8Q is also met by 2...h3!, with very similar lines, e.g. 3.Qxf8+ Bxf8 4.Ra2 g2 5.Rf2 Rxf1+ 6.Rxf1 h2+ 7.Kxh2 gxf1Q, or 3.Rb2 Bd4+ 4.Kh1 g2+ 5.Kh2 Be5+ 6.Kxh3 gxf1Q+.>

2...h3! 0-1

<In anticipation of 3.Ra2 (3.Qxf8+ Bxf8 4.Ra2 g2 also wins) 3...g2! 4.Rf2 Rxf1+ 5.Rxf1 h2+ 6.Kxh2 gxf1Q and White loses all his remaining pieces.>

I can't believe he only gives it a level of difficulty=3 out of 5...

Sep-13-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: I just signed up for www.chess.com and the user name Fusilli was taken. By someone in Italy.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

So, I signed up as RealFusilli. :)

Sep-25-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: I became a US citizen today!
Sep-25-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: Congratulations!! Now pay (more) taxes!!
Sep-26-15  wordfunph: <Fusilli> congratz!
Sep-26-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <W> <W> Thanks guys!
Sep-26-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <WannaBe> BTW, I assume you were joking, but for the record, there is no difference in tax treatment of legal permanent residents (green card holders, as I was until yesterday) and citizens. Both are residents for tax purposes. My naturalization doesn't affect my taxes at all. I have always paid taxes at the same rates and following the same rules as U.S. citizens.

The IRS definition of resident for tax purposes is based on a residency test of time spent in the US each year, which means many people are residents for tax purposes even if they are here only temporarily, such as students, or companies' employees from overseas who live in the US, and so on. (Tax treaties between the U.S. and a number of other countries protect many of these people from being double-taxed by two countries, but that is another story.)

I have paid taxes in full just like U.S. citizens do ever since my first year in the U.S., 20 years ago, because as a full-time graduate student I was a resident for tax purposes.

Sep-27-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: <Fusilli> Course I'm joking. =)
Oct-06-15  Knight13: <Fusilli> Last month, Vanderbilt's Women's Center held lectures teaching men on how to be men: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/WomensCen... Any opinions regarding women's centers lecturing men on how to be men? Did go to any of them?

Also, do you know when Vanderbilt is going to host an event where people from a Men's Center teach women on how to be women? Probably never, unless someone wants to get fired for supposed sexism and misogyny. Double standard....

Oct-07-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Hi <knight13>. Well, put the way you put it, it doesn't sound very appealing. However, I looked at the page and some of those sessions sounded pretty interesting, and I suspect there were plenty of men involved in the organization.

I think "women center" is a standard name for centers that study gender, which includes both men and women. But in academia, women outnumber men in the study of gender.

Not sure whether the purpose was to teach men how to be men, or to discuss what masculinity is. BTW, the same center sometimes sponsors interesting things:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/WomensCen...

And no, I didn't go to any of these events. Too busy! And I think they mostly target undergraduates.

Oct-07-15  Knight13: <Fusilli> I put it the way I put it because that's the way I saw it, since it's unlikely they'll ever host a "healthy femininities week". Nowadays it's open season to "address" "toxic masculinity" (often"addressed" by women--funny how a lot of women love to think they understand men enough to lecture men themselves about masculinity), but if anyone dares to speak out about "toxic femininity" (whatever that is) he is automatically labeled a misogynist and a sexist by women. Being labeled a misogynist today is a death sentence professionally, and no one wants that... except the few men who refuse to be silenced by such labels ("you're a misogynist" is not an argument) and don't care what others think.

"Toxic masculinity" gets thrown around by feminists, but you never hear them speak of "toxic femininity". I think it has to do with something like this: <Men ‘frightened’ to help women at work in case of harassment claims> http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/...

Oct-12-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: A little bit of humor. The crazy, nastyass honey badger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7...

Oct-13-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli:


click for larger view

Neat final position. If 25...Qe7 26.Rg4+ Kh7 and 27.Rxg8! Kxg8 28.Qxh6 and mate follows.

Oct-13-15  Knight13: <Fusilli> What game is that position from?
Oct-13-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <knight13> Oops, I thought I was posting on the game's page! I accidentally posted on my own forum.

The game is Sakaev vs M Kobalia, 1998. I will post now on the game's page.

Oct-20-15  Knight13: <Fusilli> What's your area of focus in sociology? Side-focus?
Oct-20-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  juan31: ♔ ANNOUNCEMENT ♔
<Game Prediction Contest> for the <Bilbao Masters 2015> tournament. In <Golden Executive Forum>

Round 1 will be played next Monday October 26 16:00 CET(UTC+1:00). The posting pairings (probably sometime Sunday). At that point, the game prediction contest will be open.

Line-up:

Viswanathan Anand, Anish Giri, Liren Ding, Wesley So.

Rounds: 6 (double round robin).
Sofia and Bilbao rules apply.

<ALL ARE WELCOME >

Oct-21-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <Knight13> Demography, international migration, survey research methods, development & globalization...
Oct-21-15  Knight13: <Fusilli> Globalization in what aspect?
Oct-22-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <K> Mostly how it affects international migration. I believe it accelerates international flows of people, but I will be in the process of testing that soon.
Nov-07-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: Hi <Fusilli>, I suspect the game R Ramirez vs E Eliskases, 1956 is played by Abraham Raul Ramirez, what do you think? Here's a page I stumbled upon: http://www.ara.org.ar/chs/ajedrez/p..., but my Spanish is hopeless. The game at bottom of that page is same as CG's.
Nov-07-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: <Fusilli> I already requested the change to CG and only afterwards remembered I should have asked you first.

There is also J Martinez vs R Ramirez, 1990, where another site has Jaime (not Jose) Martinez.

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