Barrington resident Liam Starnes exhibited his knowledge of a broad range of topics by winning his fifth match on “Jeopardy” on April 24. That accomplishment puts the 20-year-old University of Chicago senior in next season’s Tournament of Champions on the TV quiz show, in which he will compete with other winners for a $250,000 prize.
We don’t know if Starnes won any more games after that achievement. The shows are recorded in advance, but contestants are sworn to secrecy.
Competing on that show was a long-time dream for Starnes. “It’s been something I’ve wanted to do since I was 12 or 13 and I started watching ‘Jeopardy,’” he said. “I took the teen test. I didn’t make it. I took the college test. I didn’t make it. And then, the first time I took the real test, I made it on.”
Preparing for the “Jeopardy” competition isn’t easy because “there’s not really a study guide,” Starnes said. “But one thing that really helped me was looking at old Jeopardy questions and trying to figure out the writing style. What kind of tricks do they put in? How are the questions phrased? Also, trying to brush up on my weak areas.”
His strongest area is definitely sports, Starnes reported. “I am a big sports fan,” he said. “I was really happy two days ago when the sports category turned up.”
Competing on “Jeopardy” has been wonderful, Starnes indicated. “The experience of it all,” he declared. “Getting to actually be out there on the stage in front of the audience behind the podium.”
Starnes reported that the first scholastic tournament that he entered was when he was in sixth grade. “I did not do very well at all but I had so much fun that I knew that this was going to be something that I loved to do,” he said.
He participated in Scholastic Bowls at Barrington High School and College Bowls at the University of Chicago.
His most notable achievement, Starnes said, was when he was Team Captain of a winning team at Barrington High School. “My team won the High School National Championship in Scholastic Bowl my senior year,” he reported. “It was a big disappointment because the tournament was all online because of COVID. But it was still something we’re all very proud of.”
Starnes said that he enjoys competitions because, “It’s a lot of fun to play the games and you always learn a lot along the way.”
The University of Chicago senior, who graduates in June, is majoring in data science and statistics. “I’m currently planning to go into research,” he said. “I’m thinking about the area of biostatistics.”
Meanwhile, Starnes has acquired a huge fan base, cheering on each of his “Jeopardy” wins. They praise him online, with many of them insisting that he bears a strong resemblance to the character Sheldon from “The Big Bang Theory” television show.
“I don’t really see the resemblance,” Starnes declared. “I’ve been called that a few times before but I was not expecting that to be the thing people thought of when they noticed me.”
Perhaps it’s not so much his physical appearance that makes them think of the Sheldon character. It might have more to do with the intelligence that the character and the real person both exhibit.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance writer for Pioneer Press.
