Rensch fulfills longtime dream

Polgar: Rensch fulfills longtime dream at SPICE Cup Tournament

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Story last updated at 10/4/2009 – 1:21 am

On April 29, I read an article on CLO written by a relatively young talented chess player by the name of Danny Rensch from Arizona. Even though I have never met Danny, I had heard of him as one of the top young players a few years back.

I would like to share with you a few excerpts of what he wrote:

“In September 2007, I was 21 years old, I was a failure, and I knew it. At the age of 18 I had it all: I was rated over 2400 USCF and 2350 FIDE; I had won numerous national championships throughout my years as a scholastic chess player; I was a six-time all-American team member; and I was the captain of the Shelby School chess team for 10 years (a team that won 11 national championships during that stretch).”

“However, during the summer of 2007 I watched myself (practically from another person’s shoes) lose over 70 USCF rating points and 50 FIDE in just three tournaments: The World Open, The Canadian Open, and the New England Masters.

“It was a summer where IM and maybe even GM norms were supposed to come to me easily. I was supposed to pick up right where I left off…”

“2004 was my senior year in high school and it was the best chess year of my life. I won the high school national championship, earned my first IM-Norm at the Foxwoods Open, and achieved my peak ratings in both USCF and FIDE. Many people around me observed that Daniel Rensch’s ‘Road to GM’ looked more like a highway with a 75 mph speed limit and no stop signs.”

So far, it is a normal chess story for a typical talented young chess player. But as I continued to read Danny’s article, I knew that I had to give this young man a chance to fulfill his dream. Sometime in early 2004, Danny started to feel some discomfort in his ears but did not think much of it. After an average performance in the 2004 U.S. Junior Championship, he finally started to pay attention to it.

Here is how Danny continued: “When I got home, I finally confessed my ear problems to my parents. They admitted that they had noticed I’d become ‘hard of hearing’ recently, but they figured I was just ignoring them (typical teenager). We decided that a trip to the ear doc was in order. There were no worries though. After a quick fix of some kind, I would be back to pursuing my chess dreams. Traveling the world, living the life of a chess pro on the rise, and surely winning the Samford Chess Fellowship along the way was inevitable. Being as confident and as self consumed as I was at the time, I never fathomed that any other outcome could possibly exist.”

“One month later, I was lying down ‘under the knife’ for what would be the first of five major ear operations over the next two and a half years. The infections in my ear had, apparently, been eating away at my Stapes bones for some time (explaining my hearing loss, which was at 80 percent as my Stapes bone was almost completely eroded). The tumors, or growth, in both my ears had become a benign form of cancer.”

“Surgeries to remove the infection, replace my bone loss artificially, and install a cochlear implant (B.A.H.A.: Bone Anchor Hearing Aid) in my skull would be extensive and risky. I moved back in with my parents for what would become a ‘bed-ridden lifestyle’ for some time.”

“I jumped in and out of the hospital over the next two years. The layoff between surgeries typically gave me just enough time to slightly recover, stay on heavy pain killers and medication, and then go ‘under’ again. At one point during the age of 19, I was still the highest rated player for my age in the country… but that didn’t last long, as I watched all my rivals and peers pass me in leaps and bounds.”

“I would not play a serious chess tournament that required flying, by doctor’s orders, for almost two years. Lindsborg, Kan., 2004 would be my last U.S. Junior Closed Championship.”

For someone who is not able to do something he/she loves so much because of medical issues is so tough. Imagine a basketball player being told that he cannot play basketball or a golfer not being able to golf. But Danny did not let his medical problems hold him back. He shifted focus and now owns a successful chess business in Arizona by the name of American Chess Events (www.americanchess.net). He also married his girlfriend and they have two children.

Now that Danny’s hearing has recovered almost completely, and although it took more than four years, Danny tried to work his way back on the chess board, the game he passionately loves. Earlier this year, Danny earned his second International Master norm, just one shy from obtaining his International Master title, the second-highest chess title in the world.

As you can see, after reading Danny’s story, I knew I had to give him a chance to earn his title and fulfill his dream at the SPICE Cup. Danny gladly accepted my invitation to come to Lubbock.

Danny’s performance was consistent throughout the first eight rounds of the SPICE Cup B group. But as fate would have it, the biggest hurdle for Danny came in the final round. The former child prodigy Danny Rensch had to face the current American child prodigy, 14-year-old Ray Robson. Ray is considered by many the next Bobby Fischer.

Coming into this tournament, Ray already had two Grandmaster norms. If he could get another norm at the SPICE Cup, he would be the youngest Grandmaster in U.S. history. It’s Danny versus Ray in the final round. If Danny can hold Ray to a draw, Danny will earn his International Master title. But in order for Ray to become the youngest Grandmaster in U.S. history, Ray must beat Danny.

Both players came to the tournament hall in good spirits. One will fulfill his dream and the other one will be left disappointed. But there was no other way and I could not root against either player. Both are very nice young men and have so much to offer to American chess.

After a long, hard-fought battle, the game ended in a draw and Danny became the newest American International Chess Master. His dream has finally come true. Ray will try again for his final Grandmaster norm in Uruguay next week, followed by Argentina.

Congratulations to Danny! I could not be happier for him. I also have no doubt that Ray will become a Grandmaster in no time. Next week, I will share with you about more dreams fulfilled at the SPICE Cup.

Source: Avalanche Journal