Kevin Ashman

Kevin Ashman ( born November 2, 1959 in Winchester ) is an English professional quiz. He is a four -time world and six -time European champion in singles of the International Quizzing Association ( IQA ) and athletic, if not financially, the most successful quiz players of all time.

Career

Ashman since 2002, professional, first as a writer, since 2003 as an employee (player ) of the BBC Two broadcast Eggheads (2.5 million viewers each weekday, see Daily Echo -Link), in which a professional team playing against amateur challenger.

According to his outstanding successes, first as a TV / radio candidate, later va as the dominant Wettkampfquizzer ( nine wins in singles at World Cups and 12 EMs from 2004 to 2009, plus several gold medals with team) he would, at least in England quiz crazy actually be a superstar, but it is not like that. Because said championships (up to and including 2009, this will change soon ) were not televised, the IQA has taken until 2009 hardly marketing efforts and report to the print media by itself hardly report, he is not with his actual performance in the center of the public and is due to its completely unglamorous way ( he does not even have a website or a driver's license ) an almost classical anti- star. It is therefore perceived themselves in their own country simply as " one of the Eggheads ".

Ashman is the European counterpart to the most financially successful Quizzer the world, the extroverted American showman Ken Jennings, whose television profits (mainly thanks to an incredible 74 wins at Jeopardy! ) With $ 3.6 million (end of 2009) are moving in completely different dimensions, of several books has written a website with forum and has in the United States is a famous advertising star. At the only meeting of the two in Blackpool at the EQC 2007 (Open Championship ) Ashman Although defeated his opponent, ironically, he himself was also only fifth, his worst result in international competitions ( Jennings was ninth ). You can add it to extrapolate a result of Jennings not arbitrary, because Debutanten always have a format used only once (for example, is played in the U.S. in almost all formats with buzzer, are at the IQA with questionnaires, the IQA questions also emphasizes international ), but you can guess from the very high level of such events.

Early life and candidate

Little is known about his childhood / school days, Ashman indicates only that he could read the age of three. He majored in history at the University of Southampton and then worked in the Ministry of Culture.

Encouraged by colleagues he took in 1987 at the TV quiz Mastermind in part ( with the selected special topic itself, roughly comparable to the great price ), won a show, but lost in the next round ( " semi-final ").

His first major triumph in 1989 was winning the final years of the British FFA version of Fifteen to One.

In 1995 he was allowed to make a second attempt at Mastermind and put in the very first mission with 41 points with the topic Martin Luther King one until today (November 2012) unbroken record. ( The show runs with 4 candidates per week for 40 years ). This time, he also won the semi-final and final year (special areas' history of western movie "and" Zulu War ").

In 1996 he also won the annual finale of the second major BBC Tradition Quiz Brain of Britain (radio broadcast ). To this day (January 2010) this "double " managed six players. But Brain of Britain still has further development stages, namely a showdown of three years' winners, called Brain of Brains and a nine-year match-up of these winners, named Best Brain. Ashman won the 1998 both plus twice a short-lived, now almost forgotten radio show called Master Brain, at the Mastermind and Brain of Britain champions played against each other and in which he was allowed to participate twice as a double winner.

In 1999 he also won the 10-year finals ' Millennium Edition' of FFA and had so firmly established as the clear number one in Britain. Other television victories he celebrated with rather unimportant programs called Sale of the Century, Quiz Night, Trivial Pursuit and The Great British Quiz.

In the same year a British Championship took place within the framework of the Mind Sports Olympiad ( MSO) for the first time instead, which he won immediately. From 2001, this event ran separately under the flag of the British Quiz Association ( BQA ), here he won or won a medal.

Professional and dominance at nationals

When the question author of Brain of Britain Ian Gillies (former Top Brain ) 2002, died asked the managers their reigning " Best Brain " Champion Ashman, if he wanted to work full-time for them. He said yes and since then has been professional, should not appear as a candidate in shipments.

From 2003 he was also recruited for the program Eggheads and had until 2006, when Brain of Britain and he lived apart, two jobs.

But he acquired his international reputation only through his successes as Wettkampfquizzer at events founded by Jane Allen and Chris Jones 2003 IQA, every summer decentralized played in the local language Cups ( WQC ) and every November aligned in only one place, only to English played EMs (EQC ) is organizing. In both events, there is (as of 2009 ) "only" for the honor, not money, you have to ensure not qualify, but book in advance. After the first World Cup in 2003 only 45 players dressed ( Ashman was not among them ) is not listed and despite official status on some IQA pages that Championship 2004 was the big breakthrough in the scene and the events are enjoying ever-increasing popularity, even when the penetration in each country is very, very different. Ashman was 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2009 World Champion and 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 European champion. 2007 won his Irish Eggheads team-mate Pat Gibson the World Cup, 2008 Ashmans Top Brain successors and doubles partner Mark Bytheway (with whom he, however, never won a European Championship doubles title ). The only other single European champion Nico Pattyn from Belgium. Recall that the vice world champion in 2008 and 2009, Ronny Swiggers, also is Belgian and whose teams won three of the six played out Team EMs against England, one can see the enormous strength of this nation.

2010 to 2012 he was European champion in doubles with Pat Gibson, 2011, in singles, addition there were a few titles with England.