Eight of the spots were filled by former champions. On the November 9 edition of the program, reigning champion Stan Newman won his second match and his total to that point made him one of the nine highest winners. In an unusual move, as many game shows that conduct tournaments like this do not feature sitting champions (including Jeopardy!), Newman interrupted his reign as champion to compete in the tournament. The final concluded on November 16, 1990 with Newman emerging victorious over Russell Giles and Gene Murray in the two-match final. He won a total of $41,265 in the final, which included the bonus of $25,000; he finished his reign as champion with a total of $112,480 across his entire run, which included the Ultimate Challenge victory previously mentioned where he won $31,000 in the last round played under its original format. Teachers Tournament Nine teachers competed, using the same format as the Tournament of Champions; $10,000 was awarded to the winner. Invitational Tournament The Challengers invited nine more champions back for a second tournament of champions, which was held the week of March 18, 1991. The Challengers Invitational Tournament was conducted the same way that the Tournament of Champions was, with a two-day cumulative score final determining the champion and a cash bonus of $10,000 awarded to the winner on top of what they had earned in the two-day final. Lorin Burte won the Tournament by recording a total of $34,600 in the final, and with the $10,000 bonus added to that and the $46,075 won during his reign as champion, he finished with $90,675. Questions Many questions were related to current events, an aspect that the producers saw as a selling point. Episodes were taped shortly before their airdate, which was prominently displayed in the opening and on a screen behind Clark; generally, a week of episodes were taped on the Friday of the previous week, which allowed such categories as "This Week On TV" and "Today At The Movies" to be used frequently. Most of the current event questions and answers were taken from, or verified by, Newsweek; this was announced on-air at the midpoint of each episode. The series was also unique in its payout structure: contestants received their winnings on a Citibank MasterCard or Visa credit card, although Dick referenced in some episodes that contestants had the option of converting the balance to cash. References