My childhood prophecy: You must become a chess champion

In the mountains of Arizona, Danny Rensch grew up in the Church of Immortal Consciousness, a religious group often known as the Collective. Every member was given a spiritual ‘purpose’ and expected to live by it, while the group faced hostility from locals outside.

Things shifted in 1995, after nine-year-old Danny watched the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, the true story of a young American chess prodigy, Josh Waitzkin. He was hooked and soon obsessed with chess. Inside the Collective, chess quickly turned into far more than a hobby. A highly successful youth team was formed, with Danny placed at its centre.

Then, when he was 12, during a group trance session, Danny was assigned his spiritual purpose: he must become a world chess champion.

He would become an elite player, but that purpose, and the mounting pressure to win, came at a cost, testing his sense of self, his relationships and, ultimately, what freedom looks like.
Today, Danny is the co-founder and chief chess officer at chess.com, and he has written a memoir, Dark Squares.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Thomas Harding Assinder

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(Photo: A young Danny Rensch at a chess tournament focussing over the chess board. Credit: Danny Rensch)