The 2022 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions — featuring some of the show’s winningest contestants — has delivered on its promise of being a series you don’t want to miss.
Who won the 2022 ‘Jeopardy!’ Tournament of Champions?
Amy Schneider — a 40-game champ who is second only to Ken Jennings for most consecutive games won — won the 2022 Tournament of Champions Monday night.
Schneider emerged victorious after winning her third game against Andrew He, a five-game “Jeopardy!” champ, and Sam Buttrey, who was the winner of the “Jeopardy!” Professors tournament last season. Going into Monday night, both Schneider and He had two victories, and Buttrey had one.
Schneider’s victory Monday night was especially impressive considering she didn’t land on any Daily Doubles during the game, according to a news release sent to the Deseret News. Going into the Final Jeopardy round, Schneider had $15,600. He trailed close behind with $14,200, while Buttrey was in third with $8,000.
It all came down to the Final Jeopardy clue: “The January 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported on a performance of this ‘dashing comedy’ to ‘a full and delighted house.’”
Both Schneider and He came up with the correct response: “Our American Cousin.”
He made a conservative wager of $2,801, while Schneider went big and wagered $13,000 to secure her victory. As champion, Schneider won the grand prize of $250,000.
“I feel amazing,” Schneider said following her win, according to the news release. “Earlier in the finals, I had this sudden moment of seeing myself and being like, ‘I’m on stage in the Tournament of Champions finals,’ and that was crazy. And I won! It’s a great feeling.”
Going up against He in the finals was somewhat of a rematch for Schneider. The two first competed against each other last season, when Schneider ended He’s five-game winning streak and started her legendary run on the show.
“I both wanted to (compete against him) and was afraid of facing him again,” Schneider said in a statement. “I knew he was one of the top competitors in the field. He was definitely someone that I knew could beat me because he very nearly did before, and he did a couple of times here as well. Any of the three of us really could have won if a very small number of things had gone differently. I’m glad we got a really fair chance to test our skills against each other, and I’d love to play him again someday, somehow.”
Final Jeopardy questions in the 2022 Tournament of Champions
If you’re wondering whether the Tournament of Champions is more difficult than regular season play, here’s an interesting tidbit: In the Tournament of Champions finals, there wasn’t a single Final Jeopardy clue that all three contestants answered correctly.
Here are the five other Final Jeopardy clues that appeared in the final round of the 2022 Tournament of Champions, according to archives provided on the TheJeopardyFan.com (answers at the very bottom):
- “In July 2022, the ousted president of this country fled west across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives.” (Schneider missed this clue.)
- “Name shared by a Victorian novelist and an 1805 flagship captain whose name is heard in a famous phrase.” (All three contestants missed this clue.)
- “Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the most Old Testament quotations.” (Only Schneider got this one right.)
- “Ridley Scott’s first feature film, ‘The Duellists,’ was based on a story by this author to whom Scott’s film ‘Alien’ also pays tribute.” (All three contestants missed this clue.)
- “William the Conqueror’s son built a fortress on a key Northern river in 1080, giving this city its name.” (Schneider and Buttrey got this one correct.)
(Answers: Sri Lanka; Thomas Hardy; Hebrews; Joseph Conrad; Newcastle.)