Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Oct-16-25 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 81 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-18-22    technical draw: When France equalized at 3-3 and it went to penalties I thought for sure France would win it. They had the momentum and overcame a 2-0 deficit. I have a lot of Argentine friends and no French friends so I favored Argentina but it looked bleak when the penalties started. In any event congratulations to both France and Argentina for a most entertaining and nail biting final! Dec-19-22    Check It Out: I was impressed with Mbappe's dignity in the face of an epic loss. Guy's a champ. Dec-19-22    technical draw: I dedicate this Tango to the World champion Argentine Soccer team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1... Dec-19-22    optimal play: <<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.> Well, yes, but he looked to be easily dispossessed and within 3 passes and 10 seconds France scored, so it would have been quite disappointing for him. <in the end it came down to Martinez' stunning save in the dying seconds of extra time which saved an entire nation from heartbreak> Yeah, and then immediately the ball was down the other end for a chance for Argentina to head it in. Great stuff. <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?> Yes, I noticed there were two coin tosses. It looked like Argentina won the first coin toss for the end, and Messi chose the goal in front of the Argentinian fans, then there was another coin toss which France won, and they chose to kick first. So although France had first shot and went up 1-0, it was ultimately Argentina who won the shootout in front of their fans. In fact they didn't miss a single kick. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <<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.> Well, up to minute 75 or so, this was quite one-sided. And I was obviously happy about that! <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.> I wasn't blaming Messi, but he may have blamed himself. I was mad at Otamendi, whom I entirely blame for the first French goal. What was he thinking? He had to smash the goal to hell when he had the chance. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <OP> <TD> Yup, I was right about the suffering. What an emotional roller coaster! The penalty kicks sequence felt uncharacteristically low on the suffering scale! And thanks for all the congrats! My wife (American, but Honorary Argentinian) and I went to celebrate to a nice restaurant, wearing our albicelestes. Making my Instagram account public for tonight, to share these two photos with y'all: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmVPHh7... https://www.instagram.com/p/CmH3bwG... Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <technical draw: I dedicate this Tango to the World champion Argentine Soccer team> I thank you on their behalf! Dec-19-22    saffuna: Messi with Andres Iniesta. Amazing stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LP... Starts at 1:00. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <saffuna> Incredible. It's like two players with one common mind. My favorite is the one right before 5:00. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <saffuna> <optimal play> <check it out> <technical draw> <areknames> <moronovich> <chancho> It was fun to follow and comment on the World Cup together. Feel free to stop by any time for more follow-up commentary or soccer posts in general. Or even chess posts! Dec-19-22    Check It Out: Thanks for hosting! It was the first time I got interested in futbol. On the chess side, I saw this white to mate in two on one of the tournament broadcasts, a good one if you are not familiar with it. Created by Charles Alexander Gilberg in 1877: click for larger view Dec-19-22    falso contacto: Somos unos campeones. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <Check it out> I looked at it for a few minutes and thought I had it with 1.Nd4, but 1...Nd6 and next is not mate. But I'm not giving up! I'll get back to it. Dec-19-22    Fusilli: <falso contacto> Siiiii!! Dec-20-22    optimal play: <Fusilli> It certainly has been fun following the World Cup on your forum. Thanks for hosting it and have a merry Christmas. Dec-20-22    technical draw: <Or even chess posts!> Speaking of chess do you play on GameKnot? Dec-20-22    moronovich: If I am not missing anything, it is Qf1 ! mating on c3,c4 or c5 next. Dec-20-22    moronovich: Sorry, mate on f4,f5,f6 of course. Dec-20-22    Fusilli: <moro> Good job! I mistakenly discarded Qf1 because I didn't see Qf5 mate after Kxe6. Dec-20-22    Fusilli: <TD> I play on chess.com under the handle RealFusilli. Only blitz games. Great instruction videos there too. Is Gameknot a chess website? Dec-20-22    Fusilli: Here's a difficult one, if anyone wants to give it a try. Blitz game on chess.com. I sacked the exchange for control of the black squares and, hopefully, attack. Position after 22...Bc8 (a mistake) click for larger view I went for 23.Nxd6 and won. My move is not bad and gives white advantage. But there is a much better way. I gave it a 5-minute think after the computer told me there was a much better move and still didn't get it. Dec-20-22    Fusilli: <TD> I just looked it up and answered my own question. Duh! Dec-20-22    moronovich: <Fusilli: <moro> Good job! I mistakenly discarded Qf1 because I didn't see Qf5 mate after Kxe6.> I also misssed Qf5 mate, the first time I tried ;) Quite some rare double bind, one may say ! Dec-20-22    Fusilli: Follow up on the position I posted: The killer blow is 23.Nxe7+ Rxe7 24.Bf6. White's subsequent Qh4, threatening mate on h8 (Black needs to respond with Ng7) means White will capture the rook, recovering the exchange and with a killer advantage. Dec-20-22    OhioChessFan: Nice. The hard part is taking the Pawn that is pinned. Like you, I'd have gone for the Pawn that seems the right target due to the defending Pawn frozen in place. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 81 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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