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!

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 80 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-18-22    saffuna: Something really has to be done about the unfair advantage France has in every game: they get revved up by "La Marseillaise." Dec-18-22    saffuna: Angel DiMaria is playing. Alright! Dec-18-22    technical draw: <Angel DiMaria is playing. Alright!> And he gets a goal. Argentina 2 France 0. Dec-18-22    Fusilli: I can't make out if France sucks, Argentina shines, or both. But my people are at their best. Their precision is amazing today. Few passes go wrong. They control every square foot of the field, and the French generated nothing dangerous. Dec-18-22    Fusilli: But it's not over yet. Remember we Argentines know how to generate suffering to ourselves out of thin air. Dec-18-22    technical draw: In-cre-di-ble. Dec-18-22    saffuna: And do it well. 2-2. Same thing in 1986 vs. Germany. 2-0, 2-2, then the winning breakaway goal. Dec-18-22    technical draw: <fusilli> < But it's not over yet. Remember we Argentines know how to generate suffering to ourselves out of thin air.> You're a prophet. Dec-18-22    chancho: 3 - 3. Estaba pensando que Messi triumfo. Dec-18-22    Check It Out: Gulp. Penalty kicks, here we go... Dec-18-22    Check It Out: Congratulations, Fusili!!! Dec-18-22    chancho: Le comieron los dulces a Francia! Dec-18-22    technical draw: Poetic justice! Dec-18-22    chancho: People were astonished that they lost to Saudi Arabia, but boy oh boy! They turned it around mighty quick. I'm just happy that Messi won. He deserved it, given his illustrious career. Dec-18-22    Check It Out: Messi finally gets the WC, well deserved. Dec-18-22    saffuna: Anyone who thinks soccer is boring should be forced to watch Argentina's second goal and France's second as well. Argentina's was set up by six perfect passes as the team moved the ball down the field. France's was an otherworldly strike by Mbappe. Dec-18-22    moronovich: Congratulations to Argentina and to you <fussilli> for a welldeserved win. What an epic battle. One for the ages. Dec-18-22    optimal play: Congratulations Argentina! At 2-0 it looked like they were cruising to victory. <Fusilli: But it's not over yet. Remember we Argentines know how to generate suffering to ourselves out of thin air.> Yes, you certainly do! Those two late goals in just two minutes to equalise must have been heart-wrenching for the Argentines but it made for an exciting finish. Then the Messi goal in extra time, but again France equalised. A penalty shootout is a heck of a way to decide the final but Argentina deserved to win. I expect Mariano will be celebrating for some time. Dec-18-22    saffuna: <Those two late goals in just two minutes to equalise must have been heart-wrenching for the Argentines but it made for an exciting finish.> I was watching with about a thousand Argentina fans (and probably twenty actual Argentinians) on a restaurant street in Lima. The first France goal didn't slow down the celebrations too much, but the second goal resulted in dead silence. And nerves on edge until Messi scored in extra time. Dec-18-22    optimal play: <the second goal resulted in dead silence> I'm sure it did, especially since it was scored after the ball was taken away from Messi of all people! <And nerves on edge until Messi scored in extra time> Yeah, he made up for it, but then France (Mbappe) scored again to equalise. Speaking of which, it must be tough to score four (4) goals in a world cup final (including the penalty shootout) and lose. You have to feel for the guy. Dec-18-22    saffuna: <I'm sure it did, especially since it was scored after the ball was taken away from Messi of all people!> Yes, but at the center line. That happens all the time. It isn't as if Messi gave it away in front of his own goal. <You have to feel for the guy.> At the end Mbappe was also playing without any of the other first-line French attacking players. Benzema and Pogba were out with injuries, and Griezmann, Giroud, Rabiot and Dembele had all been substituted out. (I hear commentators saying Dembele was playing terribly.) Dec-18-22    areknames: WC finals are usually stingy, dour affairs (with a few exceptions) or else one-sided events where one team is just too superior. This, however, was something else: it had everything one could ask for from a final and then some. What a game! And let's not forget that for all of Messi's brilliance and Argentina's domination, in the end it came down to Martinez' stunning save in the dying seconds of extra time which saved an entire nation from heartbreak. A thoroughly deserved win. Dec-18-22    areknames: <Benzema and Pogba were out with injuries> What does that matter, neither played a single second in the cup! Dec-18-22    saffuna: <WC finals are usually stingy, dour affairs (with a few exceptions) or else one-sided events where one team is just too superior.> Previous WC finals after 90 minutes: 4-2, 0-0, 0-0, 1-1. <And let's not forget that for all of Messi's brilliance and Argentina's domination, in the end it came down to Martinez' stunning save in the dying seconds of extra time which saved an entire nation from heartbreak.> Good point! I didn't think a human leg could move that way. Dec-18-22    saffuna: <technical draw: If the penalty kicks start off 1-0 it's really hard to catch up. First you have to make sure you don't miss plus you have to hope that the other team misses. Having the early lead is a great advantage.> At the very least this needs an asterisk: * Unless Lionel Messi is taking the PK for the second team. Commentators today have said that it probably mattered that the kicks took place in front of Argentine fans, not French. How much does that matter? Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 80 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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