‘Jeopardy!’: Invitational Tournament Concludes With Runaway Game For Champion

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, February 20, episode of Jeopardy!]

We have a winner! The Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament concluded on February 20, when a contestant won their second game in a runaway.

The first contestant to win two games in the finals takes it all. The winner banked $150,000 and advances to the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters. 

The finals were played against Andrew He, Long Nguyen, and Roger Craig. Both He, from Concord, California, and Nguyen, from Las Vegas, Nevada, have one win under their belts. Craig, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, hasn’t won a finals game yet. The winner was crowned on Friday, so who became the champion — He or Nguyen?

The beginning of the game was a fight for first place between all three game show contestants. Only $1,400 separated Craig and Nguyen, with Craig leading by the first 15 clues.

However, Nguyen, a retired engineer, found the Daily Double on clue 20 and tried to take the lead. He was in third place with $2,800 and wagered all of his money. In “On The Rocks,” the clue was “A Rhine River rock that produces an echo inspired the story of this siren who seduces sailors with her song.” Nguyen answered correctly with “Who is Lorelei?” He took the lead with $5,600.

Nguyen kept the lead by the end of the first round with $6,400. Craig, an applied scientist, was in second with $5,800. He, a stay-at-home dad, had $4,400. It was a tight game for all three contestants.

In Double Jeopardy, Nguyen found the first DD on clue four with a lead of $9,200. He wagered all of his money again in “World History.” The clue read, “In Mundus Novus, a letter published in the early 1500s & attributed to him, he tells of discovering a new continent.” He correctly responded with “Who is Vespucci?” giving him a huge lead of $18,400.

With $7,600 in his bank, He found the last DD on clue six. He bet all of his money in “Books & Authors.” The clue was “Pierre Boulle drew upon his wartime experiences for this 1952 novel about POWs building the Burma-Siam railway.”

“What is The Bridge Over the River Kwai?” he answered, which gave him $15,200. This made the gap between him and Nguyen only $3,200.

After that, it was a battle for first between He and Nguyen. He wound up in the lead by the end with $31,600. Nguyen had $24,400. Craig was in third place with $6,200.

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“Andrew came storming back,” host Ken Jennings said. The category for Final Jeopardy was “Europe.” The clue read, “Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain is set in this town that in 1971 hosted the first what was then the European Management Symposium.” Only one of the contestants got it right.

Craig answered, “What is Baden?” That was wrong. He wagered $6,200 and ended with $0. Nguyen’s response was “What is Innsbruck?” That was also wrong, so he ended with $16,400 after wagering $8,000. He had the correct response of “What is Davos? #BringBackKatieNolan.” He wagered $17,201, giving him a final total of $48,801.

He won the tournament. Both Craig and Nguyen went home with $50,000. The regular Jeopardy! season will continue on Monday, February 23.