User Profile: Fusilli

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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.

   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 76 OF 112 · Later Kibitzing>
Dec-06-22		saffuna: One thing I'm noticing in games the past few days... A team that's threatening for a sustained period had better score, because if it doesn't it's likely the other team is going to score when it gets a chance.

Dec-06-22		moronovich: <saffuna: How many games are these percentages based on? If only a couple hundred a few points difference is not significant.> There are several stas which prove, that the team shooting first, has the advantage. Something like 55-45 or perhaps more.

Dec-06-22		technical draw: < How many games are these percentages based on?> Over a thousand. Anyway, Morocco deserved the win. Spain played a terrible game. Move over Europe and South America. Hello, Asia and Africa.

Dec-06-22		moronovich: An even game between Morocco and Spain who was as bad to the penalties as the japanese.

Dec-06-22		saffuna: Speaking of penalty kicks, the players who take casual/cool kicks look brilliant when they score. But boy do they look terrible when they miss, as one did for Croatia yesterday.

Dec-06-22		moronovich: Yeah, that is the destiny of the kicker. One of my last goals was a "Palenka" (1968) before it became official. Quite a spectacular experience. A sudden stroke and 100% improvisation.The team was leading 3-0 at the time.

Dec-06-22		saffuna: I've seen a Palenka where the goalkeeper doesn't move. Embarrassing.

Dec-06-22		technical draw: Cristiano who? Great goal by Ramos.

Dec-06-22		Fusilli: <saffuna: Speaking of penalty kicks, the players who take casual/cool kicks look brilliant when they score. But boy do they look terrible when they miss> Yeah, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-A... The one game where Argentina won despite Maradona.

Dec-06-22		Fusilli: In a random sample of about 1,000, the margin of error for a binary variable (like scoring a penalty kick) is about ±3%. This means that, technically, 51.5 v 48.5 is on the edge of margin of error if the sample size is 1,000. I trust that the advantage of shooting first is real. The sample can be considered random as far as I am concerned. Differences in skill among players should tend to cancel themselves out in large samples. And as <TD> said, the teams already came out even after 120 minutes of play, which suggests approximately even skill. About the captain's choice, I bet any reasonable captain would choose to shoot first just based on the logic that <TD> laid out, regardless of what data may or may not show. Since the odds are that you will score, let the other team deal with the pressure. The question I have is: Doesn't the captain that wins the draw also choose the goal? And don't they choose the goal that has their own fans behind? If so, shooting order is not the only variable that seems to matter, and disentangling the effect of order from fan support is rather impossible. <optimal play: ... It would be interesting to know the stats on which team won the penalty shootout if the team shooting first missed their first goal.> Indeed! I may take a look at the study by the LSE professor later. If it is behind a pay wall, Vanderbilt is very likely subscribed to the journal that published the study, giving me access.

Dec-06-22		saffuna: Another thing to look at: the 30 minutes of extra time after tie games. I think play tends to be poor in that time, and few goals are scored. Teams seem to be waiting for penalties.

Dec-06-22		areknames: Ok, so Portugal didn't require their primadonna to win. However, as they were only facing the insipid Swiss who were punching above their weight by being at the WC in the first place, they will need Ronaldo at full capacity in the next game(s). If he has been rude to the coach or whatever, he'd better apologize for the greater good of the team.

Dec-06-22		Fusilli: <areknames> I don't know if the Swiss goalkeeper was having a terrible day or if the many amazing saves we have seen from other goalkeepers make him look bad. But I get the feeling that some of those goals found him ill-placed or too slow. Mind you, I only watched the video highlights. It was a Swiss cheese defense anyway. If Portugal 6 Switzerland 1 was a chess game, that's the pun I'd submit, Swiss Cheese.

Dec-06-22		technical draw: <Fusilli:I bet any reasonable captain would choose to shoot first> True which negates the whole point of randomness in the coin flip. A true random flip should assign a first kick/goal side not assign a captain to choose. This may lead to Simpson's paradox.

Dec-07-22		optimal play: <Fusilli: ... The question I have is: Doesn't the captain that wins the draw also choose the goal? And don't they choose the goal that has their own fans behind? If so, shooting order is not the only variable that seems to matter, and disentangling the effect of order from fan support is rather impossible.> Yeah, that's an interesting point. It could make some difference if the fans directly behind the goal are your supporters or not. Well, Morocco shot first and won the shootout. I couldn't quite tell if it was their fans behind the goal or Spain's, but the Moroccan fans excitement must have counted for something. They play Portugal in the QF so the fairytale should come to an end then.

Dec-07-22		areknames: <Fusilli> Didn't really notice the Swiss gk's shortcomings, I'm sure he mustn't have been all that great. Pepe's header was spectacular though! Portugal sliced through the cheese in the same way Brazil did the day before, but of course Korea are better than Switzerland.

Dec-07-22		areknames: So how about those QFs then? ARG-NED is a modern classic but last time I checked the Dutch have no Messi. That fact alone should do it for Argentina, who are the obvious favourites. FRA-ENG: The French have all the pressure on them and if Mbappe' is ON they will be hard to stop but this is the best English side in 30 years with loads of talent in attack. On the right day they can beat anyone, including the champs. It will be hard fought. BRA-CRO: Croatia have significant scope for improvement and possibly some key players are past their prime. They need to tap into their unused resources to challenge Brazil but I feel there's only one possible outcome here. MAR-POR: No reason to think that the North Africans couldn't pull another upset but Portugal really look too strong here. What do y'all think?

Dec-07-22		technical draw: <areknames> <What do y'all think?> I agree with your assessments.

Dec-07-22		optimal play: <areknames: ... What do y'all think?> Argentina to beat the Netherlands France to beat England Brazil to beat Croatia Portugal to beat Morocco

Dec-07-22		Troller: Brazil and Portugal are very clear favourites IMO. Morocco have been well organized and all but it was a tough last match for many key players, and Portugal seemingly have no problems opening up solid defences. Brazil are just amazing and Croatia really look like one of the weaker teams left. I also agree with Argentina and France being favourites, at least if Argentina and especially Messi can keep the momentum. Looking forward to Friday!

Dec-07-22		Fusilli: I also expect Brazil to beat Croatia and Portugal to beat Morocco, but I feel both Argentina - Netherlands and France - England are tossups. The former, perhaps because I have gotten used to expect more from Argentina than I have seen so far. I would like to suffer less and depend less on luck (as in Australia missing a great opportunity in the last minute). The latter for the reasons y'all have said. The French are impressive but this English team is dope. How about very specific predictions? For the game result (regardless of whether 90 or 120 minutes): Brazil 3 Croatia 2 Argentina 1 Netherlands 1 Portugal 3 Morocco 1 England 1 France 0 (And I hope Argentina wins on penalties) System to see who predicted best, with tie breaks: 1) Number of correct results, as in wins and draws. Goals don't matter and how incorrect the result was doesn't matter (e.g. I predict Brazil wins, and whether it draws or loses makes no difference.) 2) Add the severity of the miss: e.g., if Brazil draws, I get -1 and if it loses, -2. 3) Cumulative goal difference between prediction and reality. For example, I am predicting Brazil +1. If it is +2 or 0 (they draw), then I am 1 point under. 4) Cumulative difference between goals predicted and converted for all 8 teams. 5) Do we still need another tie break? OK, the final tie break is that the forum host wins. E.g., <TD> and <areknames> are tied after all four criteria, then <Fusilli> wins. Please don't propose modifications! It's already complicated. Especially, don't touch point number 5, the fairest of them all!

Dec-07-22		Fusilli: On a different note, I just watched the original Panenka penalty kick on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROG.... That goal won Czechoslovakia the 1976 European championship. It was really genius. The goalie must have guessed that, since Czechoslovakia needed to score to win the game and the tournament, the shooter was going to go for the unreachable corner. It was also a perfect feint, with no slowdown like the two we have seen in this world cup. By the way, wasn't the second German goal a foul? (See the YouTube video link.) It looks to me like charging the goalie in the goal area.

Dec-07-22		Fusilli: And, in the personal chess news department, I will be playing my second post-pandemic OTB tournament next weekend. It's a 5-round Swiss, FIDE rated, here in Nashville: The Music City Open. Organized by the Nashville Chess Center, whose executive board I was invited to join on Monday (I accepted: https://www.facebook.com/NashvilleC... ... Pretty excited about it!) Will I miss any games, you ask? Well, yes. I will be missing England v France, but only that one. I am playing only one game on Saturday, but I am taking my bye on the later round, for stamina reasons. Too bad, it promises to be one of the best games of the tournament.

Dec-07-22		technical draw: <Fusilli and areknames>. You go to a lot of trouble for what is essentially an even proposition. I just flip a coin.

Dec-08-22		optimal play: <How about very specific predictions?> Argentina 2 to beat the Netherlands 1 France 3 to beat England 1 Brazil 4 to beat Croatia 1 Portugal 4 to beat Morocco 0

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