Danny Rensch is at the vanguard of chess.

He, alongside a few others, has helped to develop the sport from one which was played by the elites to a phenomenon that has exploded in recent years, particularly thanks to the rising popularity of online chess.

But to get to where he is now – a self-described “shepherd” for chess in his role as chief chess officer at Chess.com – Rensch has been on quite the life path.

As he describes in his new memoir, “Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life,” Rensch was raised in Arizona in what he describes as a cult, a group that he says orchestrated a separation from his own mother and exploited his proficiency at playing chess for its own reputational gain.

Rensch had to overcome many hurdles: Surviving emotional and substance abuse, developing tinnitus and allegedly being manipulated by a charismatic leader by being told he’d be the savior of chess. But along the way, his journey has taken him from a small commune to becoming a guiding light in a sport which, he believes, still has plenty of opportunity to grow.

Despite the hardship and trauma he’s dealt with over his life, Rensch says he doesn’t hold any resentment. He believes the struggles of his past are all part of life’s rich tapestry, highlighting a quote from influential Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung as the motto he lives by: “We are not what happens to us, we are what we choose to become.”

“I think we can learn through pain and suffering sadly, but also it can give us an appreciation for what we have,” Rensch told CNN Sports. “Part of my journey is that what grief has taught me is that your relationships are what matter the most and connecting with other people through whatever you’re doing is what actually gives you purpose.

“Your purpose is not anything you do. It is what you feel and what you find within why you do it. And I adhere myself to the fact that I am not what has happened to me. I am what I’ve chosen to become.