Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions: And the Big Winner Is…

The following story contains a massive spoiler from Monday’s Jeopardy! — proceed at your own peril

Jeopardy!‘s annual Tournament of Champions concluded Monday in dramatic fashion, with Amy Schneider prevailing over Andrew He in the sixth game of competition.

Schneider was the first to win three games against He, who prevailed in two finals games. Sam Buttrey, meanwhile, won one game in the best-of-seven series. With Schneider’s win, she walks off with the $250,000 grand prize, vs. He and Buttrey’s respective second and third place place hauls of $100,000 and $50,000.

“I feel amazing,” Schneider declared after her victory. “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.”

The Final Jeopardy! clue on Monday’s show was as follows:

Category: PLAYS
Clue: The Jan. 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported on a performance of this ‘dashing comedy’ to ‘a full and delighted house.’
Correct response: What is Our American Cousin?

Buttrey wagered everything and did not provide the correct response, while both Schneider and He responded correctly. He’s wager was $2,801, finishing with $17,001; Schneider wagered $13,000 for a final score of $28,600 to win the game and the tournament.

The Tournament of Champions finals represented a rematch between Schneider and He. In the duo’s first run-in in Season 38, Schneider ended He’s five-game streak and kicked off her historic 40-game run, which catapulted her to the No. 2 all-time spot behind only host Ken Jennings.

“I both wanted to [compete against him] and was afraid of facing him again,” Schneider said of He. “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.”

Schneider made Jeopardy! history as the first openly transgender contestant to compete in — and now win — the TOCs.

“I’m going to keep going out there and being me,” she said. “Being in places where people like me haven’t been before, it’s a very powerful thing to do.”

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