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.)

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 90 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-15-23    chancho: 1.Qf8+ Ne8 2.Rc8+ Kxc8 3.Qxe8# 1.Qf8+ Kd7 2.Rc7# Sep-16-23    Fusilli: <chancho> Right! Rc8+ is the key, and a beautiful finish. Have a nice weekend mi amigo! Sep-16-23    chancho: Gracias amigo! Sep-16-23    ketchuplover: piece be with you Sep-16-23    scormus: What's the move 23 we all missed today? Go on, find it and post it! BTW, if you like Tchaikovsky's 5th, you love this. The best recording of it I ever heard. http://www.classicalmusicsentinel.c... I think it might still be possible get the radio programme it was on. Sep-17-23    technical draw: <scormus> I love Tchaikovsky's 5th but my favorite classical piece of all time is Tchaikovsky's 4th. Sep-18-23    Fusilli: <scormus: What's the move 23 we all missed today?> I don't get this. Is it about the puzzle of that day? I missed it. <ketchuplover> And with you! Fun fact: Pope Francis and I are not just from the same city (Buenos Aires) but the same neighborhood too (Flores). We both grew up Catholic, in the same neighborhood, and we both love tango, but he is a fan of San Lorenzo. I am a Boca man. My grandfather (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi...) was one of the founders of Boca, and he was president of the club twice, in its very early years, during the pre-professionalism era. Another fun fact! <scormus> <TD> I need to catch up with the music suggestions. I've been kinda swamped since classes started. Sep-19-23    technical draw: <Fusilli> Tchaikovsky was not only a master of melody he was also a genius at pizzicato. Heres a sample from the 3rd movement of his 4th symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e90... Sep-23-23    Fusilli: Blitz game on chess.com. I am white. Well, I was roundly beaten up. click for larger view 18...Nxg3 19.Bxa7 I saw what's coming but I am lost regardless. click for larger view 19...Rxh2+ and I am fried. I am going to get mated. The only question is how far up the board. The rest was: 20. Kxh2 Ne4+ 21. Kg2 Qg3+ 22. Kf1 Qh3+ 23. Ke2 Qg2+ 24. Ke3 Qf2+ 25. Kxe4 Qf4# click for larger view Sep-25-23    scormus: <Move 23 Spielman game> I was sure I posted but it seems it didn't go. 23 Re8! is a beautiful killer, the move Spielman, and the rest of us, missed Sep-26-23    OhioChessFan: This is beyond belief, and far beyond my ability. White to play and win: click for larger view Sep-26-23    scormus: <OCF> As they say in soccer, it's a game of two halves Oct-09-23    Fusilli: <OCF> That puzzle is more than I can handle at the moment. I would probably not solve it anyway, but I have been too busy to try. I'll get to it one day. Oct-09-23    Messiah: 1. Bb6!! Oct-10-23    OhioChessFan: Quite right, <Messiah>, so far. 1. Bb6 Be1 Oct-21-23    Fusilli: <OCF> Alright, I finally got a little time for this brain teaser. But I am going to ask for a hint. I wonder what the mate would look like. A mate with the black king on the h1 corner is not possible with the white king where it is. Possible mating positions, ignoring the black bishop: click for larger view Or its mirror position: click for larger view Also: click for larger view Or its mirror position: click for larger view If cornering the black king is the goal, moving the white king to the right place seems challenging. Is this the way to think about it? I suspect it is not, because in the K+N+B vs K ending, we need to force the defending king to the corner of the color of the bishop, so it's counterintuitive to imagine how it would logically make sense that the mate on the opposite corner is even possible when there is an additional defending piece on the board. But I thought I'd ask, since it is easy to start by pushing the black king toward that corner. Two reasons to think it may be possible: first, we don't run the risk of stalemating the defending king, and that may give white useful tempos; second, playing with threats of capture of the defending bishop may come handy. Defensive disclaimer: I ask for a hint, but I don't touch a board when trying to solve puzzles. Oct-22-23    OhioChessFan: The hint is simply to get to K+B+N vs K, avoiding stalemate, and assume the win at that point. Hence, White has to capture the Bishop or mate Black as he tries to save the Bishop. Oct-23-23    Fusilli: <OCF> Noted. I'll get back to it at some point soon, I hope. Nov-20-23    Fusilli: Here's a comical one. In blitz you often just remember where your pieces are while you look at another part of the board... or you are supposed to. Just played on chess.com. 3/2 blitz, I am white. click for larger view White to play. So, I go for 32.Bxg7 Rxg7 33.Rxg7+ Kxg7 and now, when I go pick up the rook to play Rg1+ (winning), I discover that the rook is actually on a2. THIS was the position when I played Bxg7: click for larger view Oops. The position is now (after the moves I reported) this: click for larger view As it happens, I am not totally lost. He needs to get his next three moves right. 34.Ra1 Kf7 35.Rg1 Qh7 36.Rc1 Rc6 click for larger view OK, he did get them right. And won. Nov-25-23    Fusilli: 3|2 blitz on chess.com. I am white. White to play (easy) click for larger view Dec-06-23    Fusilli: 3/2 blitz on chess.com. I am black. Black to play: click for larger view White is threatening the rook and the f7 pawn. I played Rf8?? allowing Qh3+ and mate. What should have black played? Dec-06-23    chancho: ...Qb3+! Dec-06-23    Messiah: Really nice move. Dec-06-23    Fusilli: <chancho> Exactly! The computer was telling me I had a good move, and I couldn't find it for a while. After 1...Qb3+ 2.Ka1 Re1+ 3.Bb1 Nc5, black is better. Dec-14-23    Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am white. White to play: click for larger view Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 112) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 90 OF 112 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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