Fusilli Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Mar-30-26 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 6474 times to chessgames   [more...]

Mar-29-26 Chessgames - Literature   Fusilli: <That film's name was "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and was a rather faithful adaption of the book, I think.> Great film, and packed with top acting talent.      Mar-28-26 Fusilli chessforum    Fusilli: Hey fellas, I know we are mostly men over certain age around here. Or I assume so. So, I have a question that may or may not resonate. I like religion. I like the idea of God. I grew up in a practicing Catholic household. I went to a Catholic school 1-12. Growing up in Argentina, ...      Mar-25-26 Van der Wiel vs Kasparov, 1982   Fusilli: <Whitehat1963: What happens after 23. Nh6+ Kf8 (or Kh8) 24. Nf4?> <mertangili: <whitehat1963> i think after your line; 24...Qg5 25. Nxd3 cxd3 and the knight on h6 is lost> After 23.Nh6+ Kf8 24.Nf4 Nxf4 25.Kxf4 Qh4 and it looks like mate is coming, isn't it? (Or ...      Mar-25-26 Jacob Murey    Fusilli: He made GM at 46. Rather late in life, but maybe not so much at the time?      Mar-25-26 J Murey vs V Malakhov, 2000    Fusilli: Wow, this guys knows how to attack. Relentless.      Mar-25-26 Botvinnik vs N Sorokin, 1931    Fusilli: <perf> <So far as I know, in FIDE-rated events one is no longer allowed to write a move on their scoresheet before making it; is this the one exception?> That's an excellent question. And probably not a question we can solely answer based on rules, since the rules are ...      Mar-23-26 F Rhine vs D Sprenkle, 1981    Fusilli: <Mednis may have put in a good word for me with Informant, I don't know. But Informant did publish the game! In the next issue, I was shocked to learn that Informant's panel of judges had also voted it one of the 10 most theoretically important games in Volume 32.> No doubt a ...      Mar-23-26 Kenneth Rogoff    Fusilli: Great to know, <FSR>. I think starting your message the way you did is not just good strategy, but it is kind. You are showing him you care and appreciate his accomplishments. I'm not even 1/100th as famous as Rogoff, but as a university professor at a renowned place, I do get      Mar-22-26 Navara vs Wojtaszek, 2016   Fusilli: <I meant to include that perhaps Black overlooked that after 28...Bxf2+ 29. Kg2, 29...Rd7 would enable 30. Rf1 to be met by 30...Qc5!> That's my guess too. Maybe black played a tad too quickly there. In the old days, one could be really low on time by move 30 and mess up ...      Mar-16-26 Panno vs W Hug, 1973    Fusilli: Fun game.

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My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 93 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-17-24    Fusilli: <OCF> It's unusual to get to sac twice in the same game, although both sacs are no-risk. However, earlier in the game I had played the very-blitz, very-Benoni, and very dubious sac 18...Nxg3 in this position: click for larger view So, three sacs in the same game. I am kicking butt at blitz this morning, and that tends to be the case on Sunday morning. Maybe the Lord looks kindly on me on the Lord's day? :) Also, I do feel rested and relaxed on Sunday mornings. And that helps! When I take a break at work to play a blitz or two, I often play poorly, because my state of mind is very different. Also a reason why I play better in summer than during the school year. Mar-20-24    Fusilli: Thanks, <CG> for uploading four of my games from the recent Music City Open! M Sana vs G Rambha, 2024 D Aaron vs M Sana, 2024 C Peatman vs M Sana, 2024 M Sana vs J Campbell, 2024 All of them 1-0. My fifth game was a win (and also 1-0) but of very poor quality, so I didn't submit it. Mar-23-24    Fusilli: <Tactical Training: Maximize the power of your threats> Fun fact! I just played this on chess.com (I am black) and here I blew it. In my defense, you really have to be a GM to see this in blitz. In this position, with black to play... click for larger view ... turns out that the best move is 24...Qf8!! A) 25.Bxe8 (not good) Rxe8 26.Qf1 Qd6! click for larger view Look at that! The threat of Qc6 means black is winning. B) 25.Qf1 a6!! 26.Bxe8 Qxe8 click for larger view And against the threat of Qc6, white has nothing better than 27.Be3 (where 27...Qc6 is a blunder because of 28.Re2) Bxe3 and black recovered the piece and has the upper hand. Mar-23-24    OhioChessFan: <You are right. Here, 3...Rc8+ is much better than 3...Ra4+. So is 3...Ra3 and even 3...Raa8. (I ran it by the computer now.) > Whew, those aren't obvious at all, though surely the engine saw it in one billionth of a second. Mar-23-24    OhioChessFan: <Fun fact! I just played this on chess.com (I am black) and here I blew it. In my defense, you really have to be a GM to see this in blitz.> I maybe would have found it in 10 minutes.... Apr-03-24    FSR: Registration for the U.S. Senior Open in Northbrook, Illinois is now open! July 12-14. https://www.kingregistration.com/ev... I signed up. Apr-03-24    Fusilli: <FSR> Excellent! I intend to play, but I won't sign up yet. I usually wait for my plans to become clear. Apr-05-24    Fusilli: Just played on chess.com. I am black. click for larger view Black to play Apr-05-24    moronovich: - Rf4+ !-gxf4 and black is mating on g4 or Rf4+.Kg5-Rg4+.Kh6 and Qf8 mate ! Very nice, if you found that combi in the heat of a blitzgame. Apr-06-24    Fusilli: <moro> Yes! But careful with 1...Rf4+ 2.Kg5 Rf5+?? click for larger view ...where either 3.Kh6 or 3.Kxg6 wins! Apr-08-24    Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am black. click for larger view White to play. Is he lost? Apr-09-24    Check It Out: Your question says no, my search says yes. I know who I'm betting on :) Apr-10-24    offramp: <User: Fusilli> I am still looking at it. I'm pretty sure the first move must be 1. h8Q. Then 1...NxQ. I suppose 2. Nb7 .... then I don't know. I'll come back later. Apr-10-24    Fusilli: <offramp> No problem. I'll wait! <check it out> Is it ok if I don't follow? :) Apr-10-24    offramp: I was telling my daughter about these studies/problems.... "The positions are running inside my head, all day long. I can't just forget about them...." LOL, That's true. I am sure you will have that as well. Apr-11-24    Fusilli: <offramp> Ha! No longer. It was a thing for me when I was, say, 15-25. Thankfully, it went away! In the position I shared, from a blitz game of mine on chess.com, my opponent erred with 1.Nb7 and I won easily. click for larger view Turns out that 1.Kg4 draws. The line is pretty much forced: 1.Kg4 Kxa5 2.Kg5 Nh8 3.Kf6 a3 4.Kg7 a2 5.Kxh8 a1=Q+ 6.Kg8 draw click for larger view (e.g. 6...Qg1+ Kh8) Apr-11-24    offramp: Very good. I see it now! Apr-15-24    Check It Out: <fusili> I meant that your question inferred that there was a way for white to draw, but I couldn't find it. Now that the solution has been presented, as usual things seem so obvious. Thanks for all your chess content! Apr-20-24    Fusilli: <check it out> ah, got it. Cheers. Apr-20-24    chancho: Mate in four: click for larger view Apr-20-24    Fusilli: <chancho> Rhf8, Rfe8, e6, Rf8 Apr-20-24    chancho: Yep... Apr-22-24    Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am white. I just played e4 and thought I was winning a piece. Black to play. click for larger view Apr-23-24    OhioChessFan: Took a while. 1...Nf4, if gxf4, then Qxd4 and White's Pawns are a mess. So 2. Qxb4 Qxd4 3. Qxd4 Ne2+ 4. Kh1 Nxd4 click for larger view Difficult endgame, about even. No chance I'd find this in blitz. Apr-23-24    Fusilli: <OCF> Exactly. I was quite disappointed when my opponent did find it. He used a good minute or so though. I don't remember what the result of the game was. I saved the position on my phone for several days. I played this game (and others) during breaks at a conference I went to last week. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 121) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 93 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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