Amy Schneider speaks up about recent ‘Jeopardy!’ loss
Oakland “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider returned to the quiz show on Monday, Feb. 24.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Oakland software engineer and writer Amy Schneider struggled to keep up while competing in the “Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament,” despite being a history-making veteran of the quiz show.
Schneider competed against five-time winner Luigi de Guzman, an attorney from Virginia, and 2019 Teen Tournament winner Avi Gupta, a law student from Oregon, during the episode, which aired Monday, Feb. 24.
Former “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider, second from right, returned to the quiz show for its “Invitational Tournament” on Monday, Feb. 24.
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
The “Jeopardy!” champ, who rose to fame for a 40-game victory streak that ended in January 2022 during her first run on the show and placed fourth in last year’s “Jeopardy! Masters,” got off to a rocky start, unable to provide correct responses to clues during the first round.
She was able to regain her footing during Double Jeopardy! by correctly identifying the battle of Thermopylae as the 480 B.C. battle, in which the forces of Leonidas and Xerxes faced off. The small victory brought her total up to $12,200, putting her in the lead.
By the end of the round, however, Guzman pushed ahead by nearly double that of his opponents. He ended the round with $23,600, while Schneider clocked in at second place with $14,200, and Gupta trailed with $11,600.
All three contestants answered the Final Jeopardy clue about American authors incorrectly, failing to identify F. Scott Fitzgerald as the writer who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and was “sent to Camp Sheridan in Montgomery, where he met the woman who became his wife.”
Former “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider returned to the quiz show for its “Invitational Tournament” on Monday, Feb. 24.
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images
Schneider’s $10,000 wager ended up being her downfall, dropping her final total to $4,200. Guzman, who only wagered $4,801, won the game with a final total of $18,799, while Gupta earned second place with $4,367.
More Information
Chronicle Live presents How to Live a Curious Life with “Jeopardy!” Champ Amy Schneider: 6:15 p.m. March 12. $8.24-$15.45. Manny’s, 3092 16th St. S.F. www.eventbrite.com
“Jeopardy!” (TV-G) airs 7 p.m. weekdays on ABC.
Despite Schneider’s loss, there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between her and Guzman.
“Nothing I can do but tip my cap to @ouij on that one,” Schneider tweeted following the broadcast on Monday evening. “I mean, come on, he successfully buzzed in on 31/60 clues! Just sheer dominance.”
Guzman also took to social media after the episode, praising Schneider as “one of the greatest ever to play the game,” on Reddit.
During Monday’s broadcast, Schneider spoke briefly about her forthcoming children’s book, “Who Is Amy Schneider?,” which is an adaptation of her 2023 memoir, “In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life.”
“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider holds her 2023 memoir and new book “Who Is Amy Schneider?,” which is to be released on March 4.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
The books reflect upon her “Jeopardy!” journey, where she made history as the most successful woman to ever compete and the first transgender player to qualify for the show’s “Tournament of Champions.”
“It’s really gratifying to be able to reach that audience,” Schneider told host Ken Jennings of her book, due out March 4, aimed at middle-school age readers.
The Chronicle’s arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo is hosting a conversation with Schneider on March 12, at Manny’s, during which Schneider will discuss her “Jeopardy!” experience and sign books. The event will also be available to attend virtually via Zoom.
Hannah Wilson, another East Bay “Jeopardy!” victor, also returned for the “Invitational Tournament” this month. Wilson had an eight-game winning streak on the show in 2023 and appeared in a tournament episode that aired on Feb. 17.
The transgender competitor told the Chronicle that Schneider encouraged her to audition for the show.
“I was still pretty early in my gender transition, and seeing her was really inspiring,” Wilson said. “I told her I was really anxious about being on the show and wondered how it was for her to suddenly be a famous trans person. And she wrote me a great reply, encouraging me to audition.”
In her Feb. 17 episode, Wilson lost by $15,001 to 38-time winner Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York.
