User Profile: Fusilli

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Fusilli
Member since Aug-09-04 · Last seen Dec-22-25

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 6318 times to chessgames [more...]

   Dec-22-25 Fusilli chessforum

Fusilli: <OCF> Right? In other news, I'm in bed with the flu. First my wife caught it, now me. I took care of her until lunch today. Then she began to feel better and I went down quickly. So, now she is the caretaker.

   Dec-13-25 Lenderman vs C Yip, 2017

Fusilli: Great game by Lenderman, showing the true value of the minor pieces in this setup when black has no prospects on the king side.

   Dec-12-25 A DeCord vs M Sana, 2023

Fusilli: 36...? [DIAGRAM] I thought this would make a nice puzzle, but I just checked and the computer says that, in addition to the move in the game, black also draws with 36...Kh7. 37.Bxe6 concedes perpetual, and if 37.d7 Rd6! = [DIAGRAM]

   Dec-09-25 N Theodorou vs G Jones, 2025

Fusilli: <number 23> I just read your profile blurb. I totally identify with this! <My specialty is getting into trouble out of the opening because I don't prepare well, then hoodwinking points out of players through a variety of creative and fortunate swindles.>

   Dec-09-25 G Garcia Gonzalez vs Velimirovic, 1982

Fusilli: Position after 55...Qc4 [DIAGRAM] The black queen is annoying, but white can't push her away easily. If 56.Rb4 Qd3 repeats the position. And obviously, 56. R or Qc3 runs into Ne2+. 56.Kh2! And it turns out that 56...Nd3 doesn't win material. White gets to trade queens and loses a ...

   Dec-09-25 Botvinnik vs Tal, 1961

Fusilli: Another nice positional squeeze in this line is L Christiansen vs G Garcia Gonzalez, 1982 .

   Dec-08-25 Murray Marble

Fusilli: Murray Marble, 1908 Mate in 3 [DIAGRAM] When you give up, see the solution here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCU... (Or ask your engine, of course)

   Dec-07-25 J Friedman vs Gulko, 1993

Fusilli: This is a big <oops!> of a game.

   Dec-06-25 J Cuenca Jimenez vs F Oro, 2025

Fusilli: What an interesting positional game. Black's bishop looks bad, but white has his own pawn structure weakness, and Faustino maneuvered admirably.

   Dec-06-25 Faustino Oro

Fusilli: I usually don't care to cheer for any GM in particular, but I second my fellow Argentinian <Augalv>!

indicates a reply to the comment.

My Facerook Wall

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 94 OF 114 · Later Kibitzing>
Apr-26-24		Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am black. White just responded to Qd5+ with Qg4-g2. click for larger view Black to play. Easy, but that doesn't mean not pretty.

Apr-26-24		chancho: Ng3+ is the killah.

Apr-27-24		Fusilli: <chancho> It is!

May-07-24		VerySeriousExpert: Dear Dr. Sana, thank you for your nice initiative to substitute the old D.Gukesh's photo! May I ask you to support my analogous idea, to submit it to Chessgames.com? It is about substitution of some else old photos of grandmasters which disorientate people who are enough far from today's chess. For example, there is a showman old photo of WGM Carla Heredia Serrano. Other Chessgames.com's photos are enough serious, with a player near a chessboard, so this one is very strange! I can continue this list. Could you respond me, please? Best wishes!

May-08-24		OhioChessFan: Nice position from the 26th. Looks more like a composition than a game.

May-10-24		Fusilli: <VerySeriousExpert> The issue with photos is copyright. The photo I suggested of Gukesh was made freely available by the photographer. That's why it's on Wikipedia. I think it's a good idea to update photos, but I have no decision-making in that at all. You need to propose specific new photos that are available without copyright violation to the website manager. You can do so by posting on the Biographer Bistro forum.

May-10-24		Fusilli: <OhioChessFan: Nice position from the 26th. Looks more like a composition than a game.> Right?! The white bishop is the only piece that plays no role, but it makes material even, making Ng3+ the only winning move. It was nice of my opponent to help by playing Qg2 in response to the check!

May-11-24		VerySeriousExpert: Dear Dr. Sana, thank you for this support and these advices!

May-16-24		VerySeriousExpert: There is no reaction on Biographer Bistro forum, unfortunately.

May-17-24		Fusilli: <VerySeriousExpert> I just looked at your post. If you don't offer replacement photos, you are unlikely to succeed. You need to do the work yourself rather than asking others to do the work of looking for a non-copyrighted photo. Besides, don't assume people will agree with your judgement. You may come across as <very serious>, as your username suggests! I have always been bothered by what I consider a rather stupid photo of Miguel Quinteros but, to my surprise, I found that other users like it. At least that's a photo of Quinteros at his peak chess age. I am bothered by photos of famous players in their 60s or older, decades after their chess peak. That's why I found a photo of Yuri Averbakh at his peak and suggested the replacement (successfully--the previous photo was of a very elderly Averbakh). One day, I'll look for a photo of Miguel Najdorf from the 1950s to replace his current photo. Finally, it is common for posts to be buried after a pile of new posts, usually an ongoing discussion among other users on something else. In short, if you want to have a chance at replacing those photos, you need to try again, including links to freely available (not copyrighted) photos of the same players. Then it will be up to the admins to do it or not. Remember that, even if we appreciate the community aspect of this website, it is is a private site.

May-18-24		VerySeriousExpert: Dear Dr. Sana, thank you a lot Recently Chessgames.com Team accepted the 1st part of this my suggestion: Carla Heredia Serrano !

May-20-24		Fusilli: <VerySeriousExpert> Nice!

May-23-24		Fusilli: Blitz on chess.com. I am white. White to play. What's the best move? (Not a winning shot, but the best move.) click for larger view

May-23-24		Check It Out: Qe7 looks good.

May-23-24		Fusilli: <Check It Out: Qe7 looks good.> Yup. After f6, the b7-pawn falls and white's advantage is superior to other lines.

May-23-24		OhioChessFan: Qd7 looks so inviting, but the Qe7 move invokes a bunch of back rank puzzles.

May-24-24		Fusilli: <OCF> Right. I happened to see one of those a couple days ago, and the idea came to mind.

May-24-24		Fusilli: Fun blitz game vs veteran IM Rico Mascarinas on chess.com. I am black. Position after 19. Na4 cxd4 click for larger view White would be better after 20.Nxb6, but he played 20.Rxc8 click for larger view 20...dxe3 21.Rxf8+ Kxf8 22.Qb4 click for larger view 22...e2+ 23.Qxb6 exf1+ 24.Kxf1 Qxf4 click for larger view And after 25.Nc5 Qc1+ and perpetual check followed. 1/2 - 1/2

May-26-24		Fusilli: Michael Coenen v. Philipp Lamby Black to play: 57...? click for larger view I just submitted the game. Here it is: [Event "Bundesliga 2021-22"] [Site "Berlin GER"] [Date "2022.07.09"] [Round "13.5"] [White "Coenen, Michael"] [Black "Lamby, Philipp"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2326"] [BlackElo "2140"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Bc8 7.d4 e6 8.Bd2 Be7 9.Ne5 O-O 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.f4 Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.b3 Nd7 14.Na4 Ndxe5 15.fxe5 Bd8 16.O-O Bd7 17.Rf3 f6 18.Raf1 f5 19.g4 g6 20.gxf5 gxf5 21.Kh1 Rf7 22.Rg3+ Rg7 23.Rfg1 Rxg3 24.Rxg3+ Kh8 25.Kg1 Be8 26.Kf1 Bh5 27.Rh3 Bf7 28.Ke2 Bc7 29.Be1 Rg8 30.Kf1 Rg6 31.Bh4 h6 32.Be2 Rg8 33.Nc3 Kh7 34.Nb5 Bb8 35.Nd6 Bxd6 36.exd6 Be8 37.Bg3 Nd8 38.Bf4 Nf7 39.Bh5 Bb5+ 40.Kf2 Ng5 41.Bxg5 Rxg5 42.Kf3 Kg7 43.Kf4 Bd7 44.Bf3 Kg6 45.a4 b5 46.axb5 b6 47.b4 Kg7 48.Bh5 Kf6 49.Be2 Kg6 50.Rh4 Rg1 51.Bh5+ Kf6 52.Bf3 Kg6 53.Rh3 Rg5 54.Be2 Kg7 55.Bd3 Kg6 56.Ke5 Kg7 57.Rf3 f4+ 58.Kxf4 e5+ 0-1

Jun-05-24		perfidious: <Fusilli>, the bad bishop comes good after all. On another note: I have actually played two live events of late. Six months ago, if you had told me I would even have given the idea any thought, I would have suggested you be fitted for a jacket which has no sleeves. Here is one of the games; the opening by Black was not, shall we say, satisfactory, but I tried to set my opponent all the problems I could. He lost control once the play opened out. I have submitted this, but no submissions have been added for at least two weeks now. <[Event "93rd Mass Open"] [Site "Westford Mass"] [Date "2024.05.26"] [EventDate "2024"] [Round "3.11"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [White "Archibald, John"] [Black "Shaw, Alan"] [ECO "E62"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.Nc3 Qa5 8.e4 Qb4 9.Qd3 a5 10.b3 Qb6 11.Bb2 Na6 12.h3 Nd7 13.Rad1 e5 14.Ba3 Nb4 15.Qd2 exd4 16.Na4 Qc7 17.Nxd4 Nc5 18.Ne2 Nxa4 19.bxa4 Be6 20.Rc1 c5 21.Rfd1 Rfd8 22.Nf4 Nc6 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.cxd5 Nd4 25.Bb2 Qd7 26.Bxd4 Bxd4 27.Qc2 Rf8 28.g4 Qe7 29.Rd3 Qe5 30.Rb1 Kg7 31.Rxb7 Rh8 32.Rf3 Raf8 33.h4 Qe8 34.Qd2 Be5 35.Qxa5 Qc8 36.Qa7 Qxg4 37.Rfxf7+ Rxf7 38.Rxf7+ Kh6 39.Qa6 Qxh4 40.Qd3 Rb8 41.Rf3 Kg7 42.Re3 c4 43.Qd1 Rb2 44.Re2 c3 45.Rc2 Rxc2 46.Qxc2 Qd8 1/2-1/2>

Jun-05-24		Fusilli: <perfidious> Sounds great! What made you go back to the live board? I'm planning to play the Philadelphia Open (5 rounds, June 28-30) and the US Senior Open (6 rounds, July 12-14), near Chicago. Any interest in playing one of those? <FSR> is planning to play the latter. Tbh, I will actually decide at the last minute. I've been dealing with sudden bouts of awful pain lately. Sometimes two or three times a day, and it is really crippling. When it happens, I need to put an ice pack in the area (sacroiliac joint) and wait in agony until it goes away, which thankfully happens in a few minutes. It's a consequence of my weak right leg and uneven gait, bestowed on me by MS. As you may imagine, having that happen during a chess game would be quite an inconvenience. That game is pretty interesting. It seems it slipped through your fingers at the end. Time trouble? In my experience, CG sometimes needs a little nudge to upload games. But a two-week wait is standard. They posted M Coenen vs P Lamby, 2022 pretty quickly though.

Jun-05-24		Fusilli: I've been playing blitz pretty badly, lately. I reach interesting puzzle-like positions and then I blow them. Here's an example. I am black: click for larger view So, white just played 39.Rb4xh4, stopping Qh1 mate and threatening mate on h8. What does black do now? Of course, 39...Nf1+ is obvious, but then?

Jun-05-24		perfidious: <Fusilli: <perfidious> Sounds great! What made you go back to the live board?> Not sure about that, really. <....I'm planning to play the Philadelphia Open (5 rounds, June 28-30) and the US Senior Open (6 rounds, July 12-14), near Chicago. Any interest in playing one of those? <FSR> is planning to play the latter....> No chance of making Philadelphia; I will be flying home then, passing through Dallas on the way, and likely too burnt out after being out at the WSOP most of the month. Your troubles with your health are most unfortunate; there is no relief possible, beyond icing the affected area?

Jun-05-24		OhioChessFan: I found the perpetual, but probably would have lost on time. You have had some very puzzle-like positions lately.

Jun-05-24		Fusilli: <Your troubles with your health are most unfortunate; there is no relief possible, beyond icing the affected area?> Working on it... MS is sneaky, uncertain, annoying, and occasionally painful. But it may not be the SI joint after all. It's unclear. It may even be a pinched nerve... I am seeing an orthopedic doctor tomorrow.

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