Chuck Forrest
Encyclopedia
Chuck Forrest
is an American
game show
contestant who at one time held the record for the largest non-tournament cash winnings total on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!
The Los Angeles Times
called him "the Alexander the Great of Jeopardy! players." The producers of the show regarded him as one of the best and most memorable contestants of the 1980s. Forrest is widely regarded by other elite Jeopardy players to be one of the most formidable contestants to ever play.
Forrest, who was described at the time as a law student from Grand Blanc, Michigan
, had a series of victories in Season 2 of Jeopardy!, starting on September 30, 1985. After four games, he set the regular play cash winnings record, with $60,000. When he went on to play his fifth game on October 4, 1985, he broke his own cash winnings record, with 5-day cash winnings of $72,800. Under the Jeopardy! rules in effect at the time of Forrest's victory, he retired undefeated. His record lasted until early in Season 6 of Jeopardy!, when Bob Blake won $82,501. Blake's record lasted until the middle of Season 6, when Frank Spangenberg
accumulated a 5-day total of $102,597.
He went on to win the 1986 Tournament of Champions
. In the quarterfinals, which was the first round, Forrest defeated Guy Tonti and Gary Palmer. (Palmer advanced as a "wild card" high scoring nonwinner.) In the semifinals, he defeated Jay Rosenberg
and Gary Giadina. He defeated Paul Rouffa and Marvin Shinkman in the two-game final, adding another $100,000 to his total cash winnings.
In the 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament, Forrest was defeated in the quarterfinals, or the first round, by Dave Traini. That appearance added $5,000 to Forrest's total winnings. Traini would eventually become the third-place finalist. In the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament, Forrest lost his semifinal to Bob Verini, picking up another $25,000 in the process. Verini placed third in the finals. In the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions
, Forrest received a bye into Round 2 in recognition of his former regular-play cash winnings record. However, Forrest came in third in his Round 2 game and received another $25,000 ($10,000 as a runner-up and another $15,000 for the 2nd round bye). The scores were $0 for Forrest, $28,200 for the winner Phil Yellman, and $12,999 for Lara Robillard. There were no "wild card" spots for nonwinners in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, meaning neither Robillard nor Forrest had a chance of advancing to Round 3. Yellman, coming in second in round 3, lost to Pam Mueller along with Brian Moore.
Forrest implemented a strategy known as the "Forrest Bounce" in his play to potentially confuse opponents. (Forrest referred to the technique as the "Rubin Bounce" after a law school friend who first suggested it.) The Forrest Bounce is done in the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds when the player in control of the board at the moment randomly selects the next clue from a category different from the clue before to confuse the opponents into thinking they were moving into that category. This gave the player in control of the board an advantage. ("The basic point is, you know where you're going next and [your competitors] don't," according to Forrest.)
Forrest and Mark Lowenthal, a five-time champion in Season 4, co-wrote the 1992 book Secrets of the Jeopardy Champions. Like Forrest, Lowenthal won his Tournament of Champions.
In 1992, Forrest was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, entering the Republican
primary for the Ninth District of Michigan
, which at the time included his home town of Grand Blanc.
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
contestant who at one time held the record for the largest non-tournament cash winnings total on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called him "the Alexander the Great of Jeopardy! players." The producers of the show regarded him as one of the best and most memorable contestants of the 1980s. Forrest is widely regarded by other elite Jeopardy players to be one of the most formidable contestants to ever play.
Forrest, who was described at the time as a law student from Grand Blanc, Michigan
Grand Blanc, Michigan
Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 8,242 at the 2000 census. The city is situated within Grand Blanc Charter Township, but is politically independent...
, had a series of victories in Season 2 of Jeopardy!, starting on September 30, 1985. After four games, he set the regular play cash winnings record, with $60,000. When he went on to play his fifth game on October 4, 1985, he broke his own cash winnings record, with 5-day cash winnings of $72,800. Under the Jeopardy! rules in effect at the time of Forrest's victory, he retired undefeated. His record lasted until early in Season 6 of Jeopardy!, when Bob Blake won $82,501. Blake's record lasted until the middle of Season 6, when Frank Spangenberg
Frank Spangenberg
Lieutenant Frank Spangenberg garnered fame in 1990 when he set the five-day cumulative winnings record on the game show Jeopardy!, becoming the first person to win more than $100,000 in five days on the show...
accumulated a 5-day total of $102,597.
He went on to win the 1986 Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions
The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions is an annual tournament featuring the longest-running champions from the past season or seasons of the TV quiz show Jeopardy! The tournament began in the show's first season in 1964 during Art Fleming's tenure as host, and continued into the Alex Trebek era of...
. In the quarterfinals, which was the first round, Forrest defeated Guy Tonti and Gary Palmer. (Palmer advanced as a "wild card" high scoring nonwinner.) In the semifinals, he defeated Jay Rosenberg
Jay Rosenberg
Jay Frank Rosenberg was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a student of Wilfrid Sellars and established his reputation with ten books and over 80 articles in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and the history of philosophy...
and Gary Giadina. He defeated Paul Rouffa and Marvin Shinkman in the two-game final, adding another $100,000 to his total cash winnings.
In the 1990 Super Jeopardy! tournament, Forrest was defeated in the quarterfinals, or the first round, by Dave Traini. That appearance added $5,000 to Forrest's total winnings. Traini would eventually become the third-place finalist. In the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament, Forrest lost his semifinal to Bob Verini, picking up another $25,000 in the process. Verini placed third in the finals. In the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions
The Ultimate Tournament of Champions was a special fifteen-week single-elimination tournament that aired during the twenty-first season of the syndicated game show Jeopardy! that began airing on February 9, 2005 and concluded on May 25, 2005, covering 76 shows in all...
, Forrest received a bye into Round 2 in recognition of his former regular-play cash winnings record. However, Forrest came in third in his Round 2 game and received another $25,000 ($10,000 as a runner-up and another $15,000 for the 2nd round bye). The scores were $0 for Forrest, $28,200 for the winner Phil Yellman, and $12,999 for Lara Robillard. There were no "wild card" spots for nonwinners in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, meaning neither Robillard nor Forrest had a chance of advancing to Round 3. Yellman, coming in second in round 3, lost to Pam Mueller along with Brian Moore.
Forrest implemented a strategy known as the "Forrest Bounce" in his play to potentially confuse opponents. (Forrest referred to the technique as the "Rubin Bounce" after a law school friend who first suggested it.) The Forrest Bounce is done in the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds when the player in control of the board at the moment randomly selects the next clue from a category different from the clue before to confuse the opponents into thinking they were moving into that category. This gave the player in control of the board an advantage. ("The basic point is, you know where you're going next and [your competitors] don't," according to Forrest.)
Forrest and Mark Lowenthal, a five-time champion in Season 4, co-wrote the 1992 book Secrets of the Jeopardy Champions. Like Forrest, Lowenthal won his Tournament of Champions.
In 1992, Forrest was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, entering the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
primary for the Ninth District of Michigan
Michigan's 9th Congressional District
Michigan's 9th congressional district is contained within Oakland County in the southeast areas of the state of Michigan and encompasses most of the county. It is the only congressional district to lie entirely within Oakland County....
, which at the time included his home town of Grand Blanc.