Local librarian dethrones ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Amy Schneider

Amy Schneider leaves “Jeopardy!” with $1,382,800 in winnings. | Jeopardy Productions

“Jeopardy!” has a new champion.

All that researching paid off Wednesday for local librarian Rhone Talsma, whose victory on “Jeopardy!” broke the 40-game streak of the seemingly invincible Amy Schneider.

Talsma, a multimedia librarian at the Chicago Ridge Public Library, racked up $29,600 on Wednesday’s episode to defeat Schneider with $19,600.

Schneider goes into the record books with the second-longest consecutive win streak in show history. In first place with 74 games is Ken Jennings, who is now the daytime “Jeopardy!” host and was there to watch Schneider approach his record.

New “Jeopardy!” champ Rhona Talsma (right) stands with host Ken Jennings.

Talsma didn’t clinch his win until Final Jeopardy, which he entered trailing Schneider by $10,000. The clue was, “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it’s also one of the 10 most populous.”

Talsma wagered $12,000 on the final clue, which, his correct answer of “Bangladesh,” brought his total winnings to $29,600 — just $2,000 ahead of Schneider for the moment.

Schneider, however, provided no response as the gameplay turned to her. With a wager of $8,000, her total cash winnings for the day dropped to $19,600, resulting in a victory for Talsma.

Schneider leaves with $1,382,800, which puts her behind Jennings, Naperville’s James Holzhauer and Matt Amodio on the all-time, regular-season cash winnings list.