Half of 'Jeopardy!' champion's new winnings will go to Seattle nonprofit

The game show "Jeopardy!" may be focused on trivia, but winnings of an upcoming competition will benefit humanitarian work.

"Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings will compete against fellow champion Brad Rutter and IBM's Watson computing system next month, with the windfalls going to charity.

The grand prize is $1 million, second place earns $300,000 and third place earns $200,000.

Jennings and Rutter will donate half of their winnings to charity, and IBM will donate 100 percent of its winnings to charity.

Jennings chose Seattle social enterprise VillageReach as the recipient of half of his prize money in the first-ever man versus machine "Jeopardy" matches.

Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, was built by a team of IBM scientists as a computing system that rivals a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed and precision.

Jennings, who lives in the Seattle area, won 74 games in a row and broke the show's record for most consecutive games played.

He said he chose the Fremont-based nonprofit, which focuses on infrastructure and logistics for distributing medical supplies in Africa, because of its "innovative approach to improving access to health care and commitment to documenting the results of their work for donors."

"I recognize the great effort VillageReach is making to improve the lives of those in the developing world who are in critical need of health care," Jennings said.

The competition airs Feb. 14, 15 and 16.

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com