Arthur Chu, Jeopardy champ, loses after 12-day run
Arthur Chu, 30, upset traditionalists who felt he should not use game theory to win
Jeopardy! champ Arthur Chu, who won big money while taking heat for his renegade style, has been defeated.
Chu finished in third place with zero dollars on Wednesday's edition of the syndicated quiz show. He had reigned for 12 days. His total winnings were $297,200 US.
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"A great run," summed up host Alex Trebek.
Chu was unseated by Diana Peloquin of Ann Arbor, Mich., who led for the day with $15,700.
Chu had struggled for much of the show when, in Final Jeopardy, he risked, and lost, his entire day's bankroll — $6,400 — on the question: "He was the last male monarch who had not previously been Prince of Wales."
Only Peloquin had the correct response: George VI.
The 30-year-old Chu, a resident of Broadview Heights, Ohio, has described himself on Twitter as "mad genius, comedian, actor and freelance voiceover artist."
He applied a "mad genius" approach to Jeopardy! brinkmanship. He ditched the time-honoured practice of polishing off each category's questions one by one. Instead, he took a hopscotch approach to his category choices, which tended to keep his opponents off-kilter.
He also concluded that the bottom rows of the game board are most likely to contain the hidden Daily Doubles, and he played accordingly.
Chu's strategy fuelled indignation from Jeopardy! traditionalists, who contended that such an aggressive style was somehow unsportsmanlike and exhibited a lack of respect for the game.
Chu "rejected the unwritten rule that the guy or gal with the most facts wins," said On the Media host Brooke Gladstone on an episode of the public radio show last month, "and replaced it with the appalling idea that you can outwit your opponent with the wily application of game theory."
It was a style much different from that of legendary know-it-all Ken Jennings, who a decade ago set a Jeopardy! record with 74 consecutive victories while winning $2.5 million.