From being raised in ‘the Collective’ to being a ‘shepherd’ of chess: the winding journey of Danny Rensch

Photo Illustration by Ian Berry/CNN/Chess.com

Danny Rensch is at the vanguard of chess.

He, alongside a few others, has helped to develop the sport from one which was played by the elites to a phenomenon that has exploded in recent years, particularly thanks to the rising popularity of online chess.

But to get to where he is now – a self-described “shepherd” for chess in his role as chief chess officer at Chess.com – Rensch has been on quite the life path.

As he describes in his new memoir, “Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life,” Rensch was raised in Arizona in what he describes as a cult, a group that he says orchestrated a separation from his own mother and exploited his proficiency at playing chess for its own reputational gain.

Rensch had to overcome many hurdles: Surviving emoti