Is Danny Rensch the GOAT?

"Naaahh," you're saying, "Can some random IM from Arizona possibly be the greatest chess streamer ever? He's literally Nepo's son! (He's also MVL's son. And the CEO of Chess.com's son. And Wesley So's son. Something's funny here 👀.) 

Danny enjoying some quality time with his parents.

If you're curious to see some examples of IM Rensch's horrific play in this match, simply go through the games below. Fun fact: Nepo played the last few games on his phone, still crushing his opponent.

Yeah, Danny can't be that good. He also says weird stuff about Ouch-Town and stuff? IM Rensch may be the most confusing chess teacher ever.

Despite all this, today I'm here to convince you that Danny Rensch isn't actually that terrible - in fact, he's maybe a decent streamer? Let's get started.

1. He actually beat David Preuss.

Believe it or not, this no-name Arizonan chess master did beat the esteemed IM David Preuss, a member of the ChessDojo Team, in the early days of Chess.com, when all the world was new and young. 

If you want to watch part one of the Death Match, which is a free Chess.com video, just click it above. Parts two and three are also free, and can be found in the free videos section. So there's your first reason. He did actually win a chess game once, apparently!

2. He does weird stuff.

I know, you think this is a weird reason. But it actually shows that he's a fellow chess-playing nerd. As many of us, especially @Lightning and myself can testify, being a chessplayer means you have to be weird. Oh, you don't think that Danny's weird? Here's plenty of proof.

Danny being weird at the SPICE Cup.

Danny's weird - we can sympathize. Enough said?

3. He's good at chess.

Surprisingly enough, he actually is! I know, I would never have expected this, but it turns out that he's actually a good chess player, although still inferior to Dewa Kipas, Hans Stockfishman, and of course Akeras Overlingas. Here you can see one of his games, against Tatev Abrahamyan.

Wow! He really can play chess! But so can some other people...

4. He makes good videos.

Believe it or not, Danny actually does make good content. His series on https://www.chess.com/video/player/everything-you-need-to-know-1-start-playing-chess is actually quite good, and was a massive hit on Chess.com

5. He invented peshka?

According to new research, he may have actually invented the peshka (), a legendary monster popular around the world today. Apart from this, he also created many glorious videos for Chesskid.com, a popular website for young peshkas. His greatest creation ever was The Chess Piece Who Swallowed a Fly, a bizarre tale of intestinal surgery and the like. Yet another reason he might just be the GOAT.

6. He founded Chess.com.

Yup, he did that. Danny himself founded Chess.com, the largest chess website ever. For this alone, he's probably the GOAT of chess website founders. 

Um.

What more is there to say?

No, Danny isn't the GOAT of chess. He is the GOAT of chess streamer-entrepreneurs from Arizona though. Nice job Danny, maybe someday you'll make GM.

--lukegk