Dark Squares: A cult leader, a child prodigy and the chess revolution - Hardcover

Rensch, Danny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1035404621 ISBN 13: 9781035404629

Verlag: Wildfire, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

A memoir of being raised in a cult, from former chess prodigy and current chief chess officer at Chess.com.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Danny Rensch is an international chess master, world-renowned chess broadcaster and commentator, and Chief Chess Officer for Chess.com. Rensch was a seven-time all-American chess player and a national scholastic chess champion on multiple occasions. He became the youngest chess master in Arizona history and today lives in Utah with his wife and four children.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

'Dark Squares is a powerful memoir and a testimony to why an ancient boardgame still has a place in our modern world. With a home life as troubled as the one Danny Rensch experienced, the complexities of the chessboard were more than a mere distraction. Chess is not life-even a world champion can admit that. But, as in Rensch's case, it can certainly save one. With his work at Chess.com and with this beautiful book, he is well on the way to paying back his debt to our beloved game.'
Garry Kasparov, 13th World Chess Champion

Great men overcome great obstacles - and I haven't been this inspired by an underdog story in a long time. Taken from his mother, raised in a cult, Danny rose to the very pinnacle of the chess world - and then the business world. A must read.
Bobby Hall (aka Logic), #1 New York Times bestselling author of Supermarket

'A fantastic read! Danny Rensch's story is inspiring, fascinating, and at times heartbreaking. His wild ride from a difficult and traumatic childhood to becoming one of the most influential people in the history of chess will keep you turning pages way past bedtime. Compelling and unique, a deep dive into the chess world through the eyes of someone who is at the center of it all!'
Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires, Bringing Down The House, and Dumb Money

'Dark Squares is a heart-breaking, hilarious, ultimately transcendent story of one man's journey out of chaos and dysfunction. Danny Rensch's vehicle for escape was not anger or hate, but rather finding what he loved - chess - and turning it into his superpower. '
Jeannette Walls, author of the two million copy bestseller The Glass Castle

Aus dem Klappentext

Born into the Church of Immortal Consciousness, Danny Rensch spent his childhood navigating the isolated confines of a cult. Despite psychological manipulation, physical abuse, and neglect, he persevered. An international chess master and world-class commentator, Rensch's remarkable journey led him to being the face of Chess.com, one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world.

With unflinching honesty, Rensch recounts his life, starting from the moment he discovered chess in the summer of 1995, all the way up to being at the center of the most explosive cheating scandal in chess history.

He chronicles the traumas of being "special" in a cult that forced separation from his mother. Mentored by an alcoholic, Russian chess master, he found solace alongside suffering in his obsession for an ancient game, and chess became his only escape. Rensch rose through the chess ranks until a medical emergency nearly took him out of the game forever. And it almost did, until Chess.com came along.

Deeply heartfelt, keenly reflective, and haunting, Dark Squares is the never-before-told story of Danny Rensch's resilience, survival, and his enduring love for the game that saved him.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wildfire
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2025
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1035404621
• ISBN 13: 9781035404629
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368
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