http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/03/jeopardy-arthur-chu-social-media-brand.html
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As of Monday night, Arthur Chu has won more “Jeopardy!” games than nearly anyone else on earth. Only two people have surpassed his ten victories, and Chu has amassed more than two hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars in winnings. When Chu, an aspiring voiceover artist from Ohio, first found out that he had made it onto “Jeopardy!,” he went home, searched online for “Jeopardy strategies,” and spent a month internalizing what he learned. He prepared mentally, but not physically: when he appeared onstage in Culver City for his first episode, taped in November, 2013, his clothing was rumpled and he was somewhat out of shape, a pair of squarish glasses perched on his round cheeks. Chu discussed his voiceover-acting ambitions with Trebek. “I’ve only done it freelance so far,” he said. Trebek responded, “You have a good, solid, deep voice. Good luck in that career.”
Some viewers took to Twitter to cheer him on, but others started to slam him for all sorts of reasons, from his aggressive game play to his wrinkled shirt. The previous year, Chu and his wife, Eliza Blair, had noticed that a participant in the “Jeopardy!” College Tournament of Champions had announced on Twitter that she would retweet criticisms as a way to shame the trolls for their bad attitude. Now Blair did the same, promptly retweeting comments like, “I wanna slap this Asian dude on Jeopardy.” Chu, in turn, felt goaded into responding in real-time, he recalled later. He has a dry sense of humor. “This guy on Jeopardy sucks at life,” one person wrote; Chu replied, “Can’t argue with that.” He won the game.
Arthur-Chu-580.jpg
As of Monday night, Arthur Chu has won more “Jeopardy!” games than nearly anyone else on earth. Only two people have surpassed his ten victories, and Chu has amassed more than two hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars in winnings. When Chu, an aspiring voiceover artist from Ohio, first found out that he had made it onto “Jeopardy!,” he went home, searched online for “Jeopardy strategies,” and spent a month internalizing what he learned. He prepared mentally, but not physically: when he appeared onstage in Culver City for his first episode, taped in November, 2013, his clothing was rumpled and he was somewhat out of shape, a pair of squarish glasses perched on his round cheeks. Chu discussed his voiceover-acting ambitions with Trebek. “I’ve only done it freelance so far,” he said. Trebek responded, “You have a good, solid, deep voice. Good luck in that career.”
Chu’s first episode aired on January 28th. He decided to live-tweet the show so that he could host a virtual viewing party. Chu’s first tweet of the episode was self-deprecating: “Wow my face is smug.” Soon he warmed up and began giving color commentary on his performance. Chu used a method called the Forrest Bounce, named after its pioneer, the 1985 champion Chuck Forrest: rather than starting with the first clue in a category and working his way down the column, he jumped around the board. (It taxes people’s brains to move around like this, but the person who knows which clue is coming next has a split-second advantage.) Chu also targeted the bottom three-fifths of the board first, where most Daily Doubles are located—a tactic borrowed from Watson, the I.B.M. computer programmed to play Jeopardy. Most important, he was fast: as soon as Trebek finished reading a clue, he repeatedly mashed the buzzer button, while turning and staring at his competitors.
Some viewers took to Twitter to cheer him on, but others started to slam him for all sorts of reasons, from his aggressive game play to his wrinkled shirt. The previous year, Chu and his wife, Eliza Blair, had noticed that a participant in the “Jeopardy!” College Tournament of Champions had announced on Twitter that she would retweet criticisms as a way to shame the trolls for their bad attitude. Now Blair did the same, promptly retweeting comments like, “I wanna slap this Asian dude on Jeopardy.” Chu, in turn, felt goaded into responding in real-time, he recalled later. He has a dry sense of humor. “This guy on Jeopardy sucks at life,” one person wrote; Chu replied, “Can’t argue with that.” He won the game.
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There are lots of articles about Chu at Google
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