Danny vs The World: Danny Rensch Challenges YOU!

After a valiant (but ultimately unsuccessful) effort to defeat our community in Danny vs Discord, IM Daniel Rensch - Chess.com’s beloved King Of Dad Jokes - is determined to redeem himself. Now, in an all-new event hosted in our Community Club, we’re thrilled to give him that opportunity with an even bigger challenge: DANNY VS THE WORLD!

Format

On the Discord, we voted with reaction emojis. This time, we got fancy: the game will happen in a club-specific feature called Vote Chess. In this unique and collaborative way of playing, a team of players, rather than an individual, decides on the moves to make for one side of the board. If you’re not familiar with it, read the rules below to make sure you’re ready for battle!

Discussions & Comments

In each turn, the team must discuss and suggest moves for their side in the game comments. The comments are divided into two main sections: private and public. In the private section, Danny won’t be able to see what you’re cooking up, and neither will the other members of the club who have not joined the game yet. The public section is open to any spectators, as well as to your opponent! 

Each turn resets the comment section, but don’t worry, there’s an archive where you can see the discussion that was had during each stage of the game, move by move! If you want a place to discuss the game in its entirety, feel free to do it on the pinned forum post!

Community Moves

Each side has a 3-day window to play their move, so don’t panic if you can’t quickly reach a verdict in the discussion; there is more than enough time for thoughtful planning and strategy development.

After discussions, team members vote on the move they believe is best. The move with the most votes becomes the team's official move. You can hop in and make a vote at any point in the game. So if you miss the start of the game, don’t worry, you can still participate! 

Here’s another twist: It's a closed-poll game! That means players vote BEFORE seeing the move everyone else has played, adding an exciting element of suspense. 

To vote, simply make a move on the board and send! The vote tab will then showcase all the other moves and the percentage of people who voted for each one so far. Yes, resigning and offering draws are options, but do you really want to let Danny take the W so easily? 

Danny’s Moves

Danny will have the white pieces, and has to follow the same rules… but in a group all by himself. However, since this is all about sharing and collaborating, he will occasionally share a video talking a bit about the position and what he has been considering to play! 

The videos will be posted on our Community's official X account (Twitter) and in our Discord, as well as on the good old Community Club forums. If Danny sees some interesting ideas on live streams or public comments around, he might even mention specific members of the community who have been giving him a run for his money! 👀 

How to join

Participate in Danny vs The World by going to this link and joining the game. You can also find it by going to the Community Club's home page and checking out our Current Events tab!

Prizes 

After the game ends, the top most engaged participants will claim exclusive merch prizes signed by Danny! Stay tuned for the special merch reveal later on.

Well... what are you waiting for?