Daniel Rensch
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Daniel "Danny" Michael Rensch (born October 10, 1985) is an American
chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
, event organizer, lecturer and commentator. He holds the Arizona state record for youngest national master, at the age of 14. He is a Co-founder and Chief Chess Officer of
Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...
.


Professional life


Chess career

Rensch won the 1998 Elementary National Championship before becoming Arizona's youngest National Master in 1999. After earning the title, Rensch won the 2000 Junior High National Championship in Tucson, Arizona. In 2004, Rensch tied for the National High School Championship, beating
Aleksandr Lenderman Aleksandr "Alex" Lenderman (born September 23, 1989) is an American chess grandmaster. He won the 2005 World Under-16 Championship in Belfort with a score of 9/10 (+8 −0 =2), becoming the first American to win a gold medal at the World Youth ...
, a future grandmaster, to win the title. Rensch earned his first International Master (IM) norm in 2004 at the Foxwoods Open in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Backed by his strong performances, Rensch became the highest-rated 19-year-old in the United States that year. Rensch earned his second IM norm in the 2008 Berkeley International, after tying for a third-place finish with only one loss. In 2009, Rensch earned his final IM norm at Susan Polgar's SPICE CUP by achieving a draw against
Ray Robson Ray Robson (born October 25, 1994) is an American chess grandmaster. He achieved the grandmaster title in 2010, at the time the youngest American player to be awarded the title by FIDE. Early life Robson was born in Guam to American father G ...
, who went on to achieve 'youngest ever grandmaster in the United States'. Since 2012, Rensch took part in only two FIDE registered tournaments, the ''2015 Millionaire Chess Open II'' in Las Vegas, and in the 2019 Denver Open where he tied for first place alongside Jesse Kraai.


Chess.com

Rensch has been offering chess analysis online since 2009. His "Rook Endgames: Beginner to Master" series, "Isolated Queen Pawns", and "Pawn Structure 101" series are among the most popular on Chess.com. In addition, his "Everything You Need to Know" video series, designed for beginners, has been viewed 1.7 million times. Rensch has written instructive content for Chess.com's users. Some of his earliest contributions to Chess.com are among the site's most viewed articles. Rensch is the "public face" of Chess.com as a spokesperson for the company. Notably, he has created video tutorials for using the site's features and hosts the quarterly "State of Chess.com" show, presenting the company's activities over its previous three months and its plans for the future.


Commentator

Rensch is known for his coverage of Chess.com's flagship events like the Bullet Chess Championship,
PRO Chess League The Professional Rapid Online Chess League (PRO Chess League and abbreviated PCL) was an online rapid chess league operated by Chess.com. It was preceded by the United States Chess League, which announced in 2016 that it would be renamed, reforma ...
, the Speed Chess Championship, and
PogChamps PogChamps is a series of online amateur chess tournaments hosted by Chess.com. Players in the tournament are internet personalities, primarily Twitch streamers. The first four PogChamps tournaments took place over the course of two weeks, whi ...
. Rensch has also commentated live, over-the-board tournaments like the Isle of Man International, where top players like
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
and
Fabiano Caruana Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history. Born in Mia ...
competed. In 2019, Rensch also hosted the "Twitch Rivals" Komodo Boss Rush event live in San Francisco with grandmaster Robert Hess. Rensch also frequently commentates for large worldwide events such as the World Chess Championships, mostly alongside Robert Hess. Rensch has also provided commentary for the most important chess event in the world, the
World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
. He has hosted live broadcasts of the 2018 World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, as well as the record-breaking coverage of the 2021 World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and
Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...
, which amassed more than 25 million views.


Tournament organizer

Rensch currently holds the
United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national Chess ...
record for most tournaments directed as Chief Director (1095), a number which has climbed to 1196 as of January 2020. An online event, "The $40,000 GM Blitz Battle Championship", was organized and hosted by Rensch in 2016. The event included world number one, Magnus Carlsen, and 7 other world-class speed chess players. The tournament has since evolved into the Speed Chess Championships, becoming one of
Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...
's premier events. In 2019, the tournament featured a Junior and Women's Championship in addition to the primary event, and attracted players like
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraLevon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
, and
Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...
. In 2020, Rensch helped organize and hosted the first edition of
PogChamps PogChamps is a series of online amateur chess tournaments hosted by Chess.com. Players in the tournament are internet personalities, primarily Twitch streamers. The first four PogChamps tournaments took place over the course of two weeks, whi ...
, an online chess tournament for internet personalities. The tournament gathered streamers with a large follower base, including
xQc Félix Lengyel (; born November 12, 1995), better known as xQc (formerly xQcOW), is a Canadian online streamer, influencer, and former professional ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' player. While he is best known for his streaming career ...
OW,
moistcr1tikal Charles Christopher White Jr. (born August 2, 1994), better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL (pronounced "moist critical"), or penguinz0 (pronounced "penguin z zero") is an American YouTuber and streamer. He is best known for his commentary v ...
,
forsen Hans Eli Sebastian Fors (born 16 December 1990), known by the pseudonym Forsen, is a Swedish Twitch streamer who initially gained popularity for having competed in ''StarCraft II'', but is best known for competing in ''Hearthstone'' and for ...
,
fuslie Leslie Ann Fu, better known as fuslie, is an American live streamer, YouTuber and musician. She is a content creator for the gaming organization and lifestyle brand 100 Thieves. Early life Fu was born to Chinese parents. Fu has a brother na ...
, and
Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...
. Since then, three other editions of the event happened, attracting famous participants from other creative fields such as poker player
Daniel Negreanu Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won seven World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker ...
, actor
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...
, and rapper
Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
. Rensch also helped to organize the 2022 Rapid Chess Championship, an online event exclusive to the top-100 players in the world, top-10 women, top-10 juniors, and other invited players. The event features a $650,000 prize fund and has attracted some of the world's strongest players, including
Anish Giri Anish Kumar Giri (; ; born 28 June 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on ...
,
Daniil Dubov Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He achieved his final norm for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018 World Rapid Chess Championship held in S ...
, Fabiano Caruana, and others.


Lecturer

Rensch is a lecturer and has been a panelist as a presenter, speaker, and mediator over the years. In his lectures, Rensch talks about the game of chess, entrepreneurship, esports, and other subjects. In 2017, Rensch was the presenter of the lecture "Chess and the Art of War: Strategies That Win," featuring Magnus Carlsen at the
Milken Institute The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Miami, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. It publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-bas ...
. During that event, Carlsen made a
simultaneous exhibition A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
against ten opponents, while Rensch explained the games and drew parallels between chess and business. Two years later, Rensch hosted a chess and machine learning panel at the
MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (SSAC) is an annual event that provides a forum for industry professionals (executives and leading researchers) and students to discuss the increasing role of analytics in the sports industry. The confere ...
. During the conference, Robert Hess played a simultaneous match against conference attendants. Rensch explained multiple chess concepts, how
chess engine In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or List of chess variants, chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess software engine, engine is usually a Front ...
s approach the game, and what humans can learn with them. Rensch made his second appearance in the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2020 as a panelist. Like in the previous year, he was accompanied by Robert Hess, who this time played a
blindfolded A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a poorly tied or trick blindfol ...
simultaneous match against four players. Other speakers included
Daryl Morey Daryl Morey (born September 14, 1972) is an American basketball executive who is the president of basketball operations of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His basketball philosophy, heavily reliant on analyt ...
,
John Urschel John Cameron Urschel Jr. (born June 24, 1991) is a Canadian mathematician and former professional football guard. He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft. Urschel ...
, and Neil Paine. Rensch spoke about what chess could teach other sports, from rating systems to cheat detection. Rensch returned to the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2021, held online due to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
restrictions. In that year, Rensch was the moderator of a panel composed by Daryl Morey, Robert Hess, Hikaru Nakamura, and
Jennifer Shahade Jennifer Shahade (born December 31, 1980) is an American chess player, poker player, commentator and writer. She is a two-time United States Women's Champion and has the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. Shahade is the author of the books ''Ches ...
. The panel discussed the changes caused by the chess boom, propelled in large part by
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
's miniseries ''The Queen's Gambit''. In 2022, Rensch lectured at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference for a fourth consecutive occasion as part of a panel alongside Robert Hess, Daryl Morey, Jennifer Yu, and Ella Papanek. Together, they discussed the impact of chess engines on the game, how chess adapted, and lessons other sports can take from it.


Author

Rensch has written a memoir that is set to be published on September 16, 2025. The book, called ''Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life'', describes his upbringing as a child born into the Church of Immortal Consciousness cult, and how chess served as his escape from reality, ultimately helping him to overcome many adversities.


Other work

Rensch helped Jake Goldberger direct the chess scenes in the independent film ''
Life of a King ''Life of a King'' is a 2013 American drama film directed by Jake Goldberger. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Dennis Haysbert, and LisaGay Hamilton. Plot The film tells the true story of Eugene Brown ( Cuba Gooding Jr.), an ex-convict who st ...
''. Rensch co-hosted the podcast Coffeehouse Blunders for two seasons with James Montemagno where they discussed multiple subjects related to chess, including neural networks, openings, critiques of each episode of ''The Queen's Gambit'', and more. Rensch has also been a guest at different podcasts, Ben Johnson's Perpetual Podcast, and
US Chess The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national rating sys ...
' Ladies Knight.


References


External links

* *
AmericanChess.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rensch, Daniel Chess International Masters 1985 births Living people American sports announcers Chess.com 20th-century American chess players 21st-century American chess players Sportspeople from Mesa, Arizona