Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Jan-14-26 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!

indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 68 OF 114 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-12-21    OhioChessFan: I've always suspected some of the habitual Saturday/Sunday braggarts aren't really solving them. Dec-12-21    Fusilli: <OCF> It makes two of us. Dec-28-21    Penguincw: Dear Fusilli, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mar-20-22    Fusilli: ** Blitz strategy ** I just played this on a 5-min blitz on chess.com. Black (me) to move: click for larger view I have advantage, but I am down to 35 seconds vs my opponent's 1:15m. And (unbeknownst to my opponent, of course) I am playing without a mouse, using my laptop's pad, which makes me slower. I hit the right note by playing the objectively inferior choice: 44...Bxe4? The idea is that after the pretty much forced continuation: 45.fxe4 hxg3 46.hxg3 Nxe4 47.g4 Nf2: click for larger view ... black will sac the knight on g4, arriving at a 2N vs 3 connected P endgame. It works because the black king is ideally placed to avoid pesky checks. 48.Kxb4 Nxg4 49.Nxg4 f5 click for larger view Hard to play for white. And it paid off... White had to spend a lot of time to avoid losing. White could have played imperfectly but fast, and even with promotion, I would have likely lost on time. But he was probably taken aback by the dramatic change of circumstances. I ended up winning on time when I had one or two seconds left! Mar-23-22    OhioChessFan: Tell me you didn't help pick the new logo! Mar-23-22    OhioChessFan: If I had 2 Knights against 3 Pawns, I'd lose in a hurry. Mar-25-22    Fusilli: <OCF> Which new logo? I don't get it. Mar-25-22    OhioChessFan: Vanderbilt. Boring. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/03/va... Mar-27-22    Fusilli: <OCF> I hadn't noticed this! I don't like it. I didn't see anything wrong with the previous one. Apr-28-22    Fusilli: Little chess break on chess.com. Just played (blitz game). I am black: click for larger view 32...Qf6 33.Nxe4 click for larger view 33...Qxd4!! click for larger view Nice, eh? White played 34.Qc3, I collected the knight... and proceeded to lose on time a couple moves later. <rolling my eyes> May-01-22    OhioChessFan: White should have had the decency to accept your Queen sacrifice. May-01-22    Fusilli: <OCF> lol, unfortunately, he only had his best interest in mind. May-01-22    diceman: <OhioChessFan: White should have had the decency to accept your Queen sacrifice.> Time is an element of blitz play. May-12-22    Fusilli: Just played on chess.com. I am white. White to play. I didn't see how to avoid the perpetual. I played 21.c5 and it was a draw. Do you see how white wins? click for larger view May-13-22    Check It Out: 21.e4? May-13-22    diceman: I would have also played 21.c5. (in blitz) May-14-22    Fusilli: <check it out> 1.e4 meets Qh1+ 2.Ke2 Qxe4+ 3.Kf1 and after Rh8 it looks like white is toast (my first instinct was Qh1+ and perpetual but then I looked again). <diceman> Comforting to see it's not just me! The solution is the pretty difficult to see (in blitz at least) 1.Qe1! Then 1...Qh1+ 2.Ke2 Qh5+ 3.f3 Qh2+ 4.Qf2 and thank God the knight is preventing Rd2+! May-14-22    perfidious: <Fusilli>, those types of retreating moves are very easy for even strong players to overlook--who would seriously consider such a supine-looking idea as Qe1, though here it is indeed clearly winning? May-16-22    Check It Out: It's funny how a solution like that seems so obvious *after* you see it. Nice one. May-17-22    perfidious: <CIO>, don't I know it. May-17-22    Fusilli: <perfidious> Very true. <hms123> used to call them "invisible moves." May-20-22    Fusilli: Here's a nice one, seen on Instagram. click for larger view White to play. The solution may not be too hard to find, but harder is to confirm that nothing else works. It bothers me that the Instagram account I got it from never acknowledges authorship. They post problems without giving credit to the author. Does anyone know who composed this? May-21-22    Stonehenge: It was composed by Reti in 1923. But I think the bishop was on h6. May-23-22    Fusilli: <Stonehenge> Cool, thank you. Yeah, the different location for the bishop would not change anything. May-26-22    Fusilli: Blitz game on chess.com. I am white: click for larger view Black is clearly winning but he responded to the check with 38...Re6, which, believe it or not, is a blunder that concedes the draw. 39.Rxe6+! Kxe6 40.exf3 exf3 41.a4 click for larger view You see it? White's king cannot approach the pawn, but the knight is stuck, and the black king will get stuck stopping the connected, far away, pawns. 41...Kd5 42.a5 Kc6 43.Kd3 click for larger view 43...Kb5 44.Kd2 h6 45.h3 click for larger view Here black played 45...f2, but it's a draw either way. The final position was this, where I ran out of time, making it a draw by insufficient material: click for larger view Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 114) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 68 OF 114 ·  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.