Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Apr-01-26 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 6480 times to chessgames   [more...]

Apr-01-26 Fusilli chessforum    Fusilli: Little break for this cute one: White to play [DIAGRAM]      Mar-29-26 Chessgames - Literature   Fusilli: <That film's name was "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and was a rather faithful adaption of the book, I think.> Great film, and packed with top acting talent.      Mar-25-26 Van der Wiel vs Kasparov, 1982   Fusilli: <Whitehat1963: What happens after 23. Nh6+ Kf8 (or Kh8) 24. Nf4?> <mertangili: <whitehat1963> i think after your line; 24...Qg5 25. Nxd3 cxd3 and the knight on h6 is lost> After 23.Nh6+ Kf8 24.Nf4 Nxf4 25.Kxf4 Qh4 and it looks like mate is coming, isn't it? (Or ...      Mar-25-26 Jacob Murey    Fusilli: He made GM at 46. Rather late in life, but maybe not so much at the time?      Mar-25-26 J Murey vs V Malakhov, 2000    Fusilli: Wow, this guys knows how to attack. Relentless.      Mar-25-26 Botvinnik vs N Sorokin, 1931    Fusilli: <perf> <So far as I know, in FIDE-rated events one is no longer allowed to write a move on their scoresheet before making it; is this the one exception?> That's an excellent question. And probably not a question we can solely answer based on rules, since the rules are ...      Mar-23-26 F Rhine vs D Sprenkle, 1981    Fusilli: <Mednis may have put in a good word for me with Informant, I don't know. But Informant did publish the game! In the next issue, I was shocked to learn that Informant's panel of judges had also voted it one of the 10 most theoretically important games in Volume 32.> No doubt a ...      Mar-23-26 Kenneth Rogoff    Fusilli: Great to know, <FSR>. I think starting your message the way you did is not just good strategy, but it is kind. You are showing him you care and appreciate his accomplishments. I'm not even 1/100th as famous as Rogoff, but as a university professor at a renowned place, I do get      Mar-22-26 Navara vs Wojtaszek, 2016   Fusilli: <I meant to include that perhaps Black overlooked that after 28...Bxf2+ 29. Kg2, 29...Rd7 would enable 30. Rf1 to be met by 30...Qc5!> That's my guess too. Maybe black played a tad too quickly there. In the old days, one could be really low on time by move 30 and mess up ...      Mar-16-26 Panno vs W Hug, 1973    Fusilli: Fun game.

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 66 OF 122 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jun-05-20    chancho: <Fusilli> No te molestes con esos payasos. Mejor ponerlos en la lista de ignoro. Jun-05-20    Fusilli: <chancho> Tienes razón! El problema es que los que les responden los citan, y entonces quiero saber qué dijeron. Para mi lo mejor es no visitar esa página. Hoy hice una excepción. Jun-05-20    chancho: <Fusilli> Uno de ellos lo puse en la lista casi 10 años atras. Increiblemente, el sigue escribiendome. 🤷‍♂️ Es ridiculo, porque yo no me molesto en leer lo que el me dice. Como ya se que sus posts van a ser mayormente negativos, los evito sin ponerle ojo. Jun-05-20    saffuna: <fusilli> Me gustaria tenerte mas en esa pagina. Siento solo a veces. Jun-06-20    Fusilli: <saffuna> Lo siento, pero prefiero no acercarme demasiado. Estos últimos dias lo hice porque me distraje con todo lo que está pasando. Algunos de los que escriben ahi son totalmente tóxicos, y a mi no me gusta pelearme. Cuando uno discute con gente asi, el objetivo no es convencerlos. Eso es imposible. El objetivo tiene que ser compartir tu punto de vista con los otros, los que son mas razonables. A propósito, ayer reporté a uno de ellos por racista. Veamos si cg me presta atención. Jun-06-20    Fusilli: <chancho> <Es ridiculo, porque yo no me molesto en leer lo que el me dice.> Jajaja... dejalo que pierda su tiempo, que obviamente tiene tiempo de sobra! Jun-15-20    Fusilli: Note to self: This position resulting from the classical Nimzo: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... ... has a pretty good score in White's favor. Study it. Jun-15-20    fredthebear: <Fusilli> Good work on your chess posts today. The puns and puzzles seem to get most of the attention, but please keep your posts coming. Jun-16-20    Fusilli: <fredthebear> Huh? Somebody reads them? :) Very kind of you, I appreciate it! Jul-05-20    jith1207: Belated birthday 🎂 wishes, <Fusilli>. Jul-06-20    Fusilli: <jith1207> Thank you! :) Jul-06-20    chancho: No tenia idea. Feliz cumpleaños! Jul-09-20    Fusilli: Gracias <Chancho>! Jul-12-20    Fusilli: Just played on chess.com. I was black. Black to play: click for larger view 23...? Jul-12-20    saffuna: Has to be 23...Rxg2. If 24. Rxg2 then 24...Qd2 and white cannot protect everything and also stop the black pawn. Jul-12-20    Fusilli: <saffuna> Right! Seeing 24...Qd2 is essential if you are going to take the plunge with 23...Rxg2, which aesthetically screams to be played :) The game ended: 23… Rxg2! 24. Rxg2 Qd2! 25. Rg1 e2 26. Qxh6 Bxg2+ 27. Rxg2 e1=Q+ 28. Rg1 Qd5# 0-1 Aug-09-20    parisattack: Sweet Sixteen <Fusilli>! I hope all is well your way. Aug-09-20    Fusilli: <parisattack> OMG, you are right! Sweet sixteen to you too! Aug-10-20    Check It Out: Hey guys, that is cool! Aug-10-20    technical draw: Felicidades por tus 16 años. Parece que fue ayer. Pronto yo cumpliré 17. No es tiempo perdido. Se desarrollan habilidades de comunicación en grupo y se aprende cosas de otros países. Pero a la vez también se hacen enemigos solo por una opinion. Y los enlaces que publican son también instructivos. Ó, y aveces se habla de ajedrez. Saludos, TD... Aug-13-20    Fusilli: <Check it out> Yup, <parisattack> and I are <chessgames> twins. Gracias <Tablas técnicas>! Todo lo que dices es muy cierto. Ojalá se escribiera más sobre ajedrez! Oct-04-20    Fusilli: This just happens on chess.com (5-minute game). Someone v Me: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 Nf6 5. e5 Ne4 click for larger view 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 (the <CG> database only has 7.Bd2 here) d6 click for larger view 8. Bb5 dxe5 click for larger view Here white has to play 9. Bxc6+ and 0-0 or 9. 0-0. But... 9. Nxe5? Qxd4 click for larger view ... And white falls apart! I expected 10.Nd3 here, but... 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Nf3 Qxf2# 0-1 Oct-04-20    OhioChessFan: I've survived worse positions than after 11. 0-0 click for larger view Oct-04-20    Fusilli: <OCF> Oh yes, of course. I should have put question marks on 11.Nf3. There's nothing inevitable about blundering a mate in one! Oct-26-20    Fusilli: From my morning game on chess.com I am white and just played 19.Rab1, which happens to be a blunder. Black to play and win. click for larger view Black didn't see it, but I lost the game anyway. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 122) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 66 OF 122 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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