It threatens Montreal! Do the winners know about their hometown?

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Vince Baccani can name all the world chess champions from 1886 to the present in the correct order.

Diandra D'Alessio can tell you that the capital of Burundi is Gitega, not to be confused – a rookie mistake – with the economic capital of the East African nation of Bujumbura.

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Bacani, a risk manager, and D'Alessio, a technical writer, are Montreal trivia experts extraordinaire. Most smart people agree.

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Both have appeared on the hit game show Jeopardy! last year when Bacani won one game and D'Alessio won two games. As a result, they got Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions Wildcard, which gives the winner $100,000 and the chance to go after more gold in subsequent tournaments.

They start this week with quarter-final matches: Bacani can be caught on Wednesday and D'Alessio on Thursday. If they win, they will advance to the semifinals and finals in the coming days and weeks.

Apparently, a writer for the Montreal-based Jeopardy! and in the interest of sharpening the contestants' knowledge of the city's trivia, if the subject comes up, we've decided to stage our own mini-version of the show at the Rockaberry Pie Palace on Monkland Avenue, where Baccani and D'Alessio frequent. collected to satisfy sugar cravings.

Instead of modern beeps, we give each of them a glass and a spoon, and the person who rings first answers the question. If that person answers correctly, they are awarded points. If that person makes a mistake, the other participant answers and wins the point.

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Both wondered which Montreal Canadiens won the most Stanley Cup rings. Bacani answers to Doug Harvey, while D'Alessio answers to Maurice Richard. Close: It was his 11th brother, Henri.

“Sports minutia is not my thing,” says D'Alessio.

Bacani talks first about the Quebec food product that has taken the rest of the planet by storm: poutine. D'Alessio Baccani was hit with glass by many Montrealers on the Boulevard Saint-Laurent: Main.

Both come loose with the name of the short NFB dance film and the name of its famous director, Norman McLaren.

D'Alessio rises by identifying the Montreal politician who uttered the words “watch me” at a time of great crisis: Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Bacani even cites an anti-war song recorded on June 1, 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Give Peace a Chance.

Each correctly answers questions about Leonard Cohen, a bagel, and an orange julep.

But shock, horror: the two who can answer the most obscure factoids imaginable—like angiosperm, the term for a flowering plant—can't name the landscape architect who designed Mount Royal. No, as D'Alessio predicted, the answer is not in Camillien Houde. Even after telling them they also created Central Park, none of them came up with the rightful creator: Frederick Law Olmsted.

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In the end, Bacani wins 5-4, but both apologize for not knowing more about their hometown. They agree that more research may be needed here.

D'Alessio admits that some of the winners read everything from children's books to quantum physics in preparation for the show.

“I studied by watching a lot of shows and doing bar trivia,” he says. “I've always been a trivia buff. Ever since I was little, I have always been a voracious reader. When you're young, you're a sponge and absorb all of this information. It was a passion that never went away.”

Bakani, who is well aware that millions of people watch the show and judge the contestants, admits that this brings added pressure.

“It's quite nerve-wracking. “For people with stage fright, I recommend acting, improv or public speaking to overcome it,” she says, adding that a little vocal practice won't hurt.

He also received advice from Jeopardy! superstar Amy Schneider, who was caught on a Zoom conference call. Schneider tasked him with researching the show's online archive, which includes every game ever played.

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Despite the highly competitive nature of the show, D'Alessio was impressed by the strong camaraderie among the contestants.

“It's really rewarding, I must say. We all participate for a reason, hoping to win, but there was a bond with the contestants I played with,” he says. “It's like summer camp.”

A bloated ego after the first appearance?

“People were very quick to remind me of the questions I missed,” Bakani said. “It humbles me.”

“People didn't really recognize me,” D'Alessio says.

So what's one topic that gives them nightmares?

“One word: sport,” replied D'Alessio.

“Poetry,” Bakani replies. “Most of the poems I know I can't sing in public.”

Strategy is important for both. While they tend to defend their lead in games they won last year, they are taking a big risk this time around.

Their games in this tournament have already been played, but they have sworn to secrecy about the results. So there is a chance that the two will go up against each other in the final rounds.

“We all won,” Bakani says. “But you don't wish harm on anyone. We always apologize.

“We're Canadian.”

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