How A Chess Odd Couple Beat The World...
Were we really a match made in heaven? I don't know. Yes, it's true that some have called the union between me and John the greatest duo since Bert and Ernie. Simon and Garfunkel. Luke and Leia. Harry and Lloyd.
BUT I'll leave our place in the history of greatest, most over-achieving odd couples up to the critics. What I do know is that John Urschel and I came together, overcame all odds, and beat the living bleep out of the world! 
But it wasn't easy. There were ups and downs. Twists and turns. John would almost lose the game. I'd position myself to make excuses. 
And then he'd surprise me again! Calculating his way through the trickiest variations. Ignoring *cough* I mean following my advice and actually improving his position. It was magic.
BUT this dream team did not come together overnight. It took months of courting each other (as most relationships do these days... via Twitter), before we were ready to pull the trigger:
How It All Started:
"You know what we should do?!" - Me.
"What?" - John.
"Play a Vote Chess game vs the world!?"
"OK. I'm down." - John.
Pretty deep stuff, I know. But seriously, John followed me on Twitter, said "hey, I like ChessCenter", I was like "OMG, you're John Urschel!" and the rest was history:
Enough with the hype though, Danny. Could this really be done? Could you and John really defy all the stereotypes: Idiot Chess.com hosts can't actually offer anything educational and NFL players can't actually finish a full season / match from start to finish?
I'll let you review my detailed analysis and watch every video below (you don't have anything else to do) and decide...
The Full Game:
Video Analysis Sessions:
Video 1:
Video 2:
Video 3:
Video 4:
Video 5:
Video 6:
In review, nobody won (besides me and John) or lost (besides everyone else) in this scenario. We all came together to create something truly special... and if you indeed watched all our videos and learned from John's amazing advice to me, I thank you.
Danny Rensch is an international master and Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. After a successful scholastic chess career, Danny joined Chess.com as a co-founder in 2009. He directs the company's content, media partnerships, and professional chess events. Danny is an accomplished commentator and broadcaster, which he used to establish Chess.com's streaming and creator programs. He has channeled his lifelong passion for playing and teaching chess to advance Chess.com's mission of growing the game and helping people enjoy their lives through chess. With over 200 million registered users, Chess.com is the leading platform for playing and learning chess.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielrensch
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Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Rensch
Company Address: P.O. Box 60400 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Company Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
Read “Dark Squares,” Danny’s Highly Anticipated Memoir
Danny Rensch has released his highly anticipated memoir on September 16, 2025. Described as Educated meets The Queen’s Gambit, this powerful and deeply personal book dives into his upbringing in an abusive cult and how chess ended up saving his life.
