Jeopardy! contestant Brian Chang is a four-game winner after this week’s episodes, but it wasn’t easy because Friday’s contest had a super rare tie in Final Jeopardy. And that meant the tied contestants had a sudden-death, winner-take-all final round with just one question.
It’s happened before on the beloved gameshow, but it’s still incredibly unusual with so many factors contributing to how much money the contestants are left with at the end.
Going into Final Jeopardy during Friday’s episode, Brian and fellow contestant Jack Weller were tied with $18,800 apiece. They both correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question and both wagered everything, so at the end, they were again tied with $37,600.
The tiebreaker category was History, and guest host Ken Jennings — who’s among the famous faces temporarily replacing the late Alex Trebek — explained how it would work. He’d read a single clue, and whoever buzzed in first and gave the correct response would win.
The clue?
In October 1961 Stalin’s body was removed from display in this other man’s tomb
Brian buzzed in first and said: “Who is Lenin?” It was the correct answer, making Brian a four-game champ after this unexpected sudden-death round.
Wild! Gotta love when Jeopardy! offers up some surprises.
