How the cofounder of Chess.com went from being a child prodigy in a religious cult to building a 225 million player empire
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Entrepreneurs are first pulled toward their passion in all sorts of ways—whether that be through an overbearing parent, chasing a childhood dream career, or realization that a hobby can bring in millions. But Danny Rensch, chess champion and cofounder of Chess.com, initially strived for greatness during his unconventional childhood growing up in a cult.
Today, Rensch helms one of the largest online chess platforms in the world with more than 225 million registered members and 40 million active monthly users. As one of the company’s three cofounders and chief chess officer, he’s an American entrepreneur leading a gaming site beloved by millions. Chess.com says it surpassed a $1 billion valuation in 2023 without any venture backers, entirely bootstrapped by the entrepreneurs who were “laughed out of VC rooms” at the company’s inception. Rensch’s superstar status as a teen and international platform success has made him one of the most powerful figures in the industry. But his entry into the world of chess was anything but usual.
Rensch tells Fortune he first encountered the historic game while watching the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, which explores the American chess genius who became the youngest U.S. Champion in history at age of 14. Rensch romanticized the idea of a child prodigy finding himself inside the game, and with his life circumstances, the board could serve as a tool for his survival.
As detailed in Rensch’s recent book release Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life, the wunderkid spent his early years in the Church of Immortal Consciousness: a cult run by Trina and Steven Kamp in Arizona. The group, dubbed the “Collective,” attracted those in need of help, including people with alcohol and drug abuse disorders and victims of abuse. Rensch’s parents were pulled into the group, where the young chess wiz spent his childhood running around barefoot in a remote forest village. His childhood was largely in flux, living off food stamps, playing in the woods, and being tossed between the supervision of his mother and the cult’s other members.
But when Rensch first discovered the game as a nine-year old, chess became only the opportunity for him to gain approval in his abusive living situation, but to also pave a path for success once he left.
The cult’s leader, Steven Kamp, was obsessed with chess, and Rensch was quickly pulled into his orbit. Recognizing the potential of his religious pupils, Kamp set up a chess team at an elementary school near the Collective’s setup in Tonto Village. Rensch was told chess was his life’s purpose—and he was alienated from his family in the pursuit of greatness.
Content retrieved from: https://fortune.com/2025/10/05/chess-cofounder-danny-rensch-child-prodigy-cult-entrepreneur-millions-players-platform/.
