Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider loses to Rhone Talsma; how it happened
Amy Schneider’s epic 40-game winning streak (second ever in regular play to Ken Jennings) fell apart tonight after a librarian named Rhone Talsma managed to defeat her in Final Jeopardy. He entered the round at a disadvantage, but he was able to overtake her in this critical round.
Here was the clue that toppled Schneider’s reign: “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends with an H, it’s also one of the ten most populous.” The correct response here was “What is Bangladesh?” and, unfortunately for Amy, she left it blank. Talsma, meanwhile, was victorious.
We’re going to miss Schneider as a champion — not only was she one of the most competitive contestants ever, but she brought such context to her gameplay on social media, breaking down her strategy and her performance for almost every game she was a part of. She finishes in fourth place in total earnings ($1,382,800) behind Jennings, James Holzhauer, and recent champion Matt Amodio. One of the most fascinating game-show battles will be seeing Amodio and Schneider square off; it may not have the publicity of some of the recent Jeopardy: Greatest of All Time specials, but it’s pretty exciting nonetheless.
We know that there are some out there who feel like having these super-champions is bad for the show and honestly, we feel the total opposite. Were it not for these epic streaks, the only thing we’d be talking about with the show these days is all of the controversy surrounding the hosting search, from Mike Richards getting the job to him losing it shortly afterward. Even still the game-show has yet to announce a full-time host, with Jennings and Mayim Bialik each splitting time.
Are you shocked that Amy Schneider’s time as Jeopardy! host has come to a close?
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