User Profile: Fusilli

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Fusilli
Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Oct-19-25

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 87 OF 112 · Later Kibitzing>
Jul-23-23		Fusilli: <FSR> Good times! I won in round 5. +3 =2 now. Probably playing a GM this afternoon.

Jul-23-23		moronovich: Hi <Fusilli> ! That is good news ! And good "luck" to the next round.

Jul-23-23		Check It Out: <Fusilli> Great! Go get 'em!

Jul-24-23		FSR: <Fusilli> Great job! Hope your last game went well.

Jul-24-23		Fusilli: OK, US Senior Open is over. Round 1: Chibana (1504) vs Sana (2131), 0-1 Round 2: Sana (2131) vs Moore (1800), 1-0 Round 3: FM Eckert (2217) vs Sana (2131), draw Round 4: Sana (2131) vs FM Resika (2200), draw Round 5: Sana (2131) vs Vollmer (1928), 1-0 Round 6: GM Kraai (2452) vs Sana (2131), 1-0 I just submitted all but the first game. They are interesting. The game vs FM Eckert was intense! Unfortunately, I played carelessly vs GM Kraai and was swiftly punished. Sana vs Vollmer, white to play. click for larger view See the win after 32.fxg6 Rxf1+?

Jul-24-23		FSR: <Fusilli> Excellent showing despite the last-round loss to Kraai. Not easy playing black against a GM. I'm guessing it still wins you a little money. I heard that Kraai, Mitkov, Eckert (!), Fishbein, and I think one other tied for first, with Kraai winning on tiebreak, which means that he qualifies for the U.S. Senior Closed next year. I played in last year's U.S. Senior Open, where I felt sad for Kraai. He won his first five games (including against fellow GMs Yermo and Fishbein), but lost to Dmitri Gurevich in the last round to finish second. He was the only player to face three GMs, and scored 2-1 against them, but it wasn't enough to win the tournament. Gurevich's one draw was a quickie against Fishbein.

Jul-24-23		Fusilli: <FSR> I am a bit bummed by how badly I played against Kraai. Even though I was obviously the underdog by a large margin, it was my worst quality game of the tournament. One could assume I was intimidated, but I really didn't feel (or even feel) that way. I think it was the opposite. I played overconfident, probably buoyed by the good tournament I had and my strong play up to then. The game against Kraai was the only one where I blundered badly. To wit, consider the game accuracy scores computed by chess.com below. "Game accuracy" is a measurement of how closely you played to what the computer has determined to be the best possible play against your opponent's specific moves. I added game accuracy at the end of each result. R1: Chibana vs Sana, 0-1 (80.3 vs 96.3) (Gap: -16.0) R2: Sana vs Moore, 1-0 (90.3 vs 85.5) (Gap: +4.8) R3: FM Eckert vs Sana, draw (92.8 vs 92.9) (Gap: -0.1) R4: Sana vs FM Resika, draw (98.0 vs 98.2) (Gap: -0.2) R5: Sana vs Vollmer, 1-0 (90.4 vs 76.6) (Gap: +13.8) R6: GM Kraai vs Sana, 1-0 (97.0 vs 84.3) (Gap: +12.7) The absolute score depends on how complex the position was. A score of 90 in one game does not mean you played better than a score of 85 in a more complex game. What matters most is the gap. The nearly zero gaps vs Eckert and Resika show we were quite even. Now, the gap with Kraai is huge, owed in part to that bad blunder. But compare to my last two losses vs grandmasters: M Sana vs F Corrales Jimenez, 2022, 0-1 (77.8 vs 85.8) (Gap: -8.0) Benjamin vs M Sana, 2019, 1-0 (85.7 vs 82.0) (Gap: +3.7) Both Corrales-Jimenez and Benjamin had to think to beat me. Kraai used about 15 minutes for the whole game because I made it so easy for him, right out of the opening. But again, you are right I had a strong tournament and played well, so I can't complain. Next time I play a GM, I'll try not to waste the opportunity so easily.

Jul-24-23		FSR: <Fusilli> That's a drag, although at our level playing well in five out of six games is pretty good. But yeah, you'd like to at least make the GM work for the point. How do you get an accuracy score on chess.com for a game you played elsewhere? I didn't know that was possible.

Jul-24-23		Unstable Psychopath: <Fusilli> Would it have helped you play better if someone offered to buy you a three year CG membership if you beat the GM?

Jul-25-23		Fusilli: <FSR: How do you get an accuracy score on chess.com for a game you played elsewhere? I didn't know that was possible.> In the chess.com main menu, go to Learn, then to Analysis. In the box on the right panel, paste the pgn of the game/s you want. Then click on the green button "Add games." It will load the game for analysis. Click on the Review button, to the right of Analysis. That's it! I just did it for your game with Yermo. It gives you 98.4, and 98.6 to Yermo.

Jul-25-23		Fusilli: <Unstable> Not at all.

Jul-25-23		FSR: Here is the crosstable: https://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMai.... Kinda crazy - six players scored 5-1 to tie for first: GMs Kraai (winner on tiebreak), Mitkov, and Fishbein; FM Eckert; and NMs Peter Gilruth and Steve Szpisjak. GMs Yermolinsky (4.5) and Kudrin (4) didn't make it.

Jul-25-23		Fusilli: <FSR> True. With 79 players and six rounds, it can happen. Here's the organizer's version of the crosstable, which includes the detailed tie breaks: https://www.kingregistration.com/re... So, technically, I played the top two players. And I shared 13th place with Kudrin. Feeling good about this. I don't know if Yermolinsky and Kudrin had a GM draw in round 4, but I guess they'll both think it twice next time, as they both lost in round 5. Kudrin left after that. Respect for Yermo, who stayed for game 6 (and won). GMs in open tournaments sometimes quit when disappointed.

Jul-25-23		FSR: <Fusilli> Last year, Yermo drew me in Round 5, then withdrew. I guess his ego could survive a loss to Eckert, but not a draw against me.

Jul-28-23		Fusilli: Starting the 5-round Nashville Summer Classic today (https://ncc.clubexpress.com/content...). At the moment, we are only 16 players in the top section, and I am ranked 9th. Which means I'd play the top rated player, Alexander Fishbein. That's fine, better to play a GM when I am rested! Still time for other people to join, which would alter the pairings though. (Of course, if new players are higher rated than me, I'm still playing someone strong.)

Jul-28-23		FSR: <Fusilli> Good luck!

Jul-29-23		moronovich: Good luck !, <Fusilli> !

Jul-29-23		Fusilli: <FSR> <Moro> Thank you guys. I lost to Fishbein last night, but I put up a decent fight. I will submit the game after the tournament is over. <FSR> How's Grand Rapids going?

Jul-30-23		FSR: <Fusilli> Played IM Nikoloz Managadze. Typical game where higher-rated player plays King's Indian against lower-rated player. I was better for the first 22 moves, didn't play energetically enough (needed to break with f4), still could have been equal, didn't, got smashed by his kingside attack. Live and learn.

Jul-30-23		Fusilli: <FSR> Indeed, my friend. Today I won the first game and drew the second one. Intense games. I will submit them after the tournament.

Jul-30-23		Fusilli: Quite a dramatic finale in my third-round game yesterday. Decord vs Sana, position after 30...Qb7-c7 click for larger view 30...Qb4, and I was able to save this! He had to move the h-pawn here (31.h4 gives +0.58 and 31.h3 gives +0.40). He played 30.d6: click for larger view 30...Qd4+ 31.Kh1 Rxb2 click for larger view The rest to be posted with the game (<CG> willing), after the tourney is over. Draw in 40.

Jul-31-23		Fusilli: Done with Nashville Summer Classic. +2 =2 -1 I am submitting the games for uploading. Something interesting from round 4: Sana vs Caveny In the position below, the computer says I should have played 12.O-O-O (+1.90) click for larger view I played 12.Bf6, which the computer calls a blunder (??). click for larger view Black to play and equalize. Difficult! (He missed it. 1-0 in 28.)

Jul-31-23		Check It Out: 12...d5 13.exd6 Nxd6 ?

Jul-31-23		chancho: 12...Bb4 and if white plays 13.Bxf8, then black goes Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Qxc3+

Jul-31-23		Fusilli: <Check it out> That is the variation that happened in the game, which was posted today: M Sana vs Aaron Caveny, 2023 <Chancho> That is reasonable, and against 12...Bb4, I was planning to play 13.O-O. White keeps a sizable positional advantage. The saving move is the amazing 12...Ba3!! click for larger view The problem is that if 13.O-O Bxb2 14.Rab1 Bxc3 15.Bxh8 meets 15...d5! click for larger view And the capture en passant reveals a hanging white bishop on h8. Ouch. So, the computer recommends 13.O-O-O, and after 13...Qxc3 14.bxa3 Qxa3+ black has a draw. click for larger view (15.Kd2 d5 here is dangerous for white, and after 15.Kb1, white can't play Bb3 against Qb4+ because of the hanging queen on e4.)

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