The Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades is a 5-week tournament airing throughout the 30th season to celebrate 30 years of the syndicated version. 15 contestants face-off from each decade of Jeopardy! to advance to the quarterfinals. The 5 winners from each decade face off in the quarterfinals. From there the regular tournament format developed by Alex Trebek is used for the 15 quarterfinalists.
Schedule [ ]
Round
Airdate
Finale
1980s Preliminary
February 3, 2014
February 7, 2014
1990s Preliminary
March 3, 2014
March 7, 2014
2000s Preliminary
March 31, 2014
April 4, 2014
Quarterfinal ~ Final Match
May 5, 2014
May 16, 2014
Winnings [ ]
Preliminaries
Quarterfinalists
Semifinalists
Finalists (minimum guarantees)
2nd runner-up
1st runner-up
Winner
$5,000
$10,000
$25,000
$50,000
$100,000
$1,000,000
Contestants [ ] Fan-Favorite Round [ ] The first part of the tournament began on September 30, 2013. 14 people who were pre-selected to appear in each decade (the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s) were announced. 5 people competed for the 15th spot in each decade over the course of 3 weeks. Voting took place on the Jeopardy! website, Facebook, and Twitter. The 5 nominees for the 1980s were:
The second week of voting took place the following week, with the nominees being kept secret until the voting began. They were:
The final week of voting for the 2000s took place the next week. The nominees were:
The results were announced on December 3, 2013. Andrew Westney, Shane Whitlock, and Tom Nissley claimed the 15th and final spot for each respective decade, while each decade's alternate was Diane Siegel, Brian Weikle, and Erin McLean.
Top 45 Champions [ ]
Rank
Player
Decade
TW
Results
WC
1
Brad Rutter
1990s
$3,370,102
★
2
Ken Jennings
2000s
$3,172,700
★
3
Jerome Vered
1980s
$494,102
4
Roger Craig
2000s
$481,200
★
5
Dan Pawson
$421,902
★
6
Colby Burnett
$350,000
★
7
Tom Nissley
$336,405
8
Celeste DiNucci
$334,601
9
Vijay Balse
$334,400
10
Mark Dawson
1990s
$333,849
★
11
Larissa Kelly
2000s
$323,997
12
Russ Schumacher
$320,800
★
13
Michael Falk
$310,403
14
Bob Verini
1980s
$271,802
15
Frank Spangenberg
$269,596
16
Robin Carroll
1990s
$249,100
★
17
Keith Whitener
2000s
$248,597
18
Dan Melia
1990s
$247,801
19
Chuck Forrest
1980s
$227,800
★
20
Michael Dupée
1990s
$198,901
21
Tom Nosek
1980s
$184,240
★
22
Leszek Pawlowicz
$180,400
★
23
Ryan Holznagel
1990s
$179,413
24
Dave Abbott
$173,599
25
Mark Lowenthal
1980s
$159,901
★
26
Stephanie Jass
2000s
$159,570
27
Pam Mueller
1990s
$157,201
★
28
Jim Scott
1980s
$154,300
29
Rachael Schwartz
1990s
$152,499
★
30
Tom Kavanaugh
2000s
$149,602
31
Tom Cubbage
1980s
$136,600
★
32
Maria Wenglinsky
2000s
$134,300
33
Bob Harris
1990s
$127,400
34
India Cooper
1980s
$124,400
35
Leslie Frates
$98,599
36
Jill Bunzendahl Chimka
1990s
$96,099
37
Babu Srinivasan
$95,100
38
Leslie Shannon
1980s
$94,300
39
Shane Whitlock
1990s
$93,200
40
Eddie Timanus
1990s
$89,700
41
Vinita Kailasanath [ 1] 2000s
$85,000
42
Claudia Perry
1990s
$75,303
43
Richard Cordray
1980s
$45,303
44
Phoebe Juel
$38,000
45
Andrew Westney
$31,000
Qualifier Round [ ] The matchups by order of ranking at the end of the game.
The five winners advanced to the quarterfinals. Losing players received $5,000, with the exception of Richard Cordray , who was ineligible to earn money due to his position in federal law.
Decade
Game
Air Date
Name
Score
Name
Score
Name
Score
Detail
1980's
#1
February 3, 2014
India Cooper
$2,000
Chuck Forrest
$33,400
Jim Scott
$6,200
#
#2
February 4, 2014
Leslie Frates
$3,999
Leszek Pawlowicz
$28,000
Andrew Westney
$27,200
#
#3
February 5, 2014
Richard Cordray
$5,200
Tom Nosek
$7,201
Leslie Shannon
$0
#
#4
February 6, 2014
Phoebe Juel
$2,100
Mark Lowenthal
$9,000
Frank Spangenberg
$7,199
#
#5
February 7, 2014
Tom Cubbage
$16,801
Jerome Vered
$10,000
Bob Verini
$1,999
#
1990's
#1
March 3, 2014
Rachael Schwartz
$7,900
Babu Srinivasan
$0
Eddie Timanus
$7,700
#
#2
March 4, 2014
Fritz Holznagel
$11,603
Dan Melia
$9,700
Pam Mueller
$17,000
#
#3
March 5, 2014
Shane Whitlock
$11,200
Bob Harris
$0
Shane Whitlock
$7,999
#
#4
March 6, 2014
Dave Abbott
$5,199
Mark Dawson
$15,599
Claudia Perry
$11,600
#
#5
March 7, 2014
Jill Bunzendahl Chimka
$0
Mike Dupée
$28,300
Brad Rutter
$30,600
#
2000's
#1
March 31, 2014
Colby Burnett
$16,201
Celeste DiNucci
$14,801
Tom Nissley
$13,400
#
#2
April 1, 2014
Vijay Balse
$17,600
Roger Craig
$17,601
Stephanie Jass
$15,600
#
#3
April 2, 2014
Tom Kavanaugh
$0
Larissa Kelly
$14,799
Russ Schumacher
$15,400
#
#4
April 3, 2014
Michael Falk
$2,400
Ken Jennings
$23,600
Vinita Kailasanath
$1,600
#
#5
April 4, 2014
Dan Pawson
$12,700
Maria Wenglinsky
$3,100
Keith Whitener
$1
#
Final rounds [ ] The matchups for the quarterfinals were announced 15 days after taping as part of a press release by Jeopardy! on their Tumblr blog.
Game
Air Date
Name
Score
Name
Score
Name
Score
Detail
QF #1
May 5, 2014
Leszek Pawlowicz
$15,000
Robin Carroll
$0
Roger Craig
$22,078
#
QF #2
May 6, 2014
Tom Nosek
$2,400
Pam Mueller
$14,798
Russ Schumacher
$16,700
#
QF #3
May 7, 2014
Mark Lowenthal
$300
Brad Rutter
$32,400
Dan Pawson
$399
#
QF #4
May 8, 2014
Tom Cubbage
$19,500
Rachael Schwartz
$7,600
Ken Jennings
$40,000
#
QF #5
May 9, 2014
Chuck Forrest
$11,900
Mark Dawson
$8,600
Colby Burnett
$11,000
#
SF #1
May 12, 2014
Ken Jennings
$30,401
Russ Schumacher
$0
Chuck Forrest
$26,200
#
SF #2
May 13, 2014
Brad Rutter
$32,800
Tom Cubbage
$8,592
Leszek Pawlowicz
$10,399
#
SF #3
May 14, 2014
Roger Craig
$12,799
Pam Mueller
$1,595
Colby Burnett
$4,099
#
Final
May 15, 2014
Brad Rutter
$10,000
Ken Jennings
$7,000
Roger Craig
$0(-$800)
#
May 16, 2014
$11,800
$599
$4000
#
Total
$21,800
$7,599
$4,000
Trivia [ ] Colby and Roger faced off as teammates again at the All-star games, and Colby avenged his semi-final loss with a win and a 3rd-place finish.
Brad continued his undefeated streak against humans by winning the All-stars game five years later.
Richard Cordray declined his $5,000 prize as an invitee since he was serving as director to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
Among notable past contestants from the tournament that weren't in the field:
1980s
1990 ToC winner and first player to earn over $75,000 in regular games Bob Blake (who declined due to a scheduling conflict)
1989 Teen Tournament winner, 1989 ToC semifinalist, 1990 Super Jeopardy! semifinalist, and Million Dollar Masters finalist Eric Newhouse
Super Jeopardy! winner and 1988 ToC quarterfinalist Bruce Seymour
Million Dollar Masters invitee and 1988 ToC semifinalist Kate Waits
1987 ToC and 1990 Super Jeopardy! finalist Dave Traini
1988 ToC finalist and biggest winner of season 4 Bruce Naegeli , who died in 2009
1993 ToC semifinalist and biggest winner of season 9 Ed Schiffer
1988 ToC finalist and first woman to reach in the ToC finals Sandra Gore
1992 ToC quarterfinalist and fifth-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era John Kelly
1991 ToC quarterfinalist and tenth-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era Bruce Ikawa
1990 ToC finalist Larry McKnight
1986 ToC finalist and the alternate for the 10th Anniversary Tournament Paul Rouffa
1989 ToC finalist and biggest winner of season 5 Brian Wangsgard
1991 ToC semifinalist and biggest winner of season 7 Mark Born
1986 ToC semifinalist Jay Rosenberg , who died in 2008
1992 ToC semifinalist and 10th Anniversary Tournament semifinalist Robert Slaven
1992 Teen Tournament winner, first woman to win the Teen Tournament, 1992 ToC semifinalist, and 2005 UToC quarterfinalist April McManus
1987 inaugural Teen Tournament winner and 1987 ToC semifinalist Michael Galvin
1990 ToC semifinalist Eric Terzuolo
1986 ToC quarterfinalist and biggest one-day total of season 2 Harvey Becker
1991 ToC quarterfinalist and first woman to earn more than $70,000 in regular games, Lynne Wexler
1989 ToC quarterfinalist and only contestant to play FJ! in 4-player, 3-player, 2-player, and 1-player modes Jeff Richmond
1987 ToC semifinalist and biggest winner of season 3 John Ryan
1986 ToC and 10th Anniversary Tournament semifinalist Lionel Goldbart , who died in 2010
1989 ToC finalist Rich Lerner
1992 ToC finalist Bruce Simmons
1993 ToC finalist Bev Schwartzberg
Any competitors from the inaugural 1985 ToC (including winner Jerry Frankel , who passed away in 1987):
Elise Beraru , the first 5-time champion of the Trebek eraPaul Boymel , biggest winner of season 1Steve Rogitz , the 1985 ToC finalist, Super Jeopardy! quarterfinalist, and 10th Anniversary Tournament semifinalistBruce Fauman , the 1985 ToC finalist and Super Jeopardy! quarterfinalist, who passed away in 2002.
Barbara Lowe was disqualified due to legal issues.
1990s
1995 ToC finalist, season 11's top regular games winner and third-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era David Siegel
1994 ToC, Ultimate ToC semifinalist, and ninth-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era John Cuthbertson
2001 ToC quarterfinalist, biggest winner of season 16, and fourth-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era Doug Lach
1995 ToC semifinalist and biggest winner of season 12 Paul Thompson
2000 ToC semifinalist and the alternate for the Million Dollar Masters Jeremy Bate
1994 ToC semifinalist and biggest winner of season 10, and sixth-highest regular games winner of the pre-doubled era Steve Chernicoff
1998 ToC finalist and biggest winner of season 13 Kim Worth
2003 ToC finalist and biggest winner of season 18 Eric Floyd
2001 ToC semifinalist and 2005 UToC quarterfinalist Lan Djang
1999 ToC semifinalist and biggest one-day total of season 14 John Skelton
1998 Battle of the Area Brains invitee and 1996 ToC semifinalist Beverly Spurs
2000 ToC semifinalist Michael Rooney
1998 ToC quarterfinalist Arthur Phillips
2003 ToC semifinalist and last 5-time champion of the pre-doubled era Trevor Norris
2001 ToC quarterfinalist and biggest one-day total of season 17 Michael Arnone
1999 ToC finalist Juliet Wiley
1999 ToC finalist J.J. Todor
1995 ToC finalist Isaac Segal
1996 ToC finalist Bob Scarpone
2000 ToC semifinalist and 1999 College Championship winner Carolyn Cracraft
1999 ToC semifinalist and season 15's top regular games winner David Bagley
1998 ToC semifinalist and 2005 UToC quarterfinalist Grace Veach
1994 ToC quarterfinalist and the top regular games winner among women players from the pre-doubled era Amy Fine
2001 ToC finalist Tad Carithers
2001 ToC finalist Rick Knutsen
2003 ToC semifinalist Alan Bailey
1999 ToC quarterfinalist Lara Robillard
2003 ToC quarterfinalist and first 5-time champion in the doubled era Ben Tritle
2000-A College Championship winner and 2000 ToC quarterfinalist Janet Wong
1994 College Championship winner and 1994 ToC finalist Jeff Stewart
1995 Teen Tournament winner, holder of highest-winning tournament score in the pre-doubled era, 1995 ToC semifinalist, and 2005 UToC quarterfinalist Matt Zielenski
1997-B Teen Tournament winner and 1998 ToC semifinalist Sahir Islam
1999-B Teen Tournament winner, 2000 ToC semifinalist, and last Teen Tournament winner to be invited to the ToC Chacko George .
2000s
References [ ]
↑ Vinita Kailasanath was placed in the 2000s week group, despite originally competing on Jeopardy! in 2001 (which was during the 1990s week's range), as she deferred her Tournament of Champions appearances until 2004.
