WASHINGTON — The nation’s top geography whiz breezed through questions about mountain ranges, rivers and world capitals Wednesday, but he was stumped when National Geographic Bee host Alex Trebek asked him to name one of his weaknesses.

“Um …” said Eric Yang, 13, pausing. The Texas teen had just revealed to the “Jeopardy!” host how he crafts his own chess strategies and plays the piano.

“That’s OK,” Trebek replied. “You remind me of a former president, but we won’t get into that.”

Some in the audience at National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington gasped. Others laughed. But the joke was on Trebek by the end of the hour, as Eric took home the top prize of a $25,000 college scholarship, beating out nine other boys in the finals without missing a single answer.

Eric wasn’t stumped on the third question of a tiebreaker round: Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country? Eric had it right — Romania. His opponent, 14-year-old Arjun Kandaswamy, of Beaverton, wrote down “Hungary.”

“I just made an educated guess,” Eric said.

The 13-year-old from The Colony, Texas, has been studying maps since he was young. He was born in Singapore and moved to Texas at age 2. “I just wanted to figure out why did they build those roads and how did these places get here?” he said.

His mother, Aileen Yang, said Eric reads everything from history books to cookbooks to learn about other places and cultures. “I think the curiosity is a major part of him.”

The bee aired Wednesday on National Geographic Channel and will be shown later on public television stations.

In earlier rounds, one student from every U.S. state and territory competed, along with a student from a military family. According to a survey of the 55 students, President Barack Obama tops the list of people they admire (besides their parents), followed by grandparents and teachers.

Some participants are aspiring politicians, including runner-up Arjun, who takes home a $15,000 scholarship. “I figured if I get bored with law, maybe I’ll go into politics — senator, representative, congressman, something like that,” he said.

The snowboarder and mountain biker also said he wants to break the stereotype that “geography nerds” only “study all day.” Rather, Arjun said, many of the bee competitors play sports and have other talents.

Are you smarter than a geography whiz?

Here are a few of the more than 65 questions asked in the final rounds of the National Geographic Bee. The championship round between winner Eric Yang and runner-up Arjun Kandaswamy went to three tiebreaker questions until Kandaswamy answered incorrectly.

TIEBREAKER QUESTIONS

1. Located northwest of Qatar, Sitrah is a port city in what oil-exporting island country?

2. Akimiski Island is the largest island in a bay that also marks the southernmost extent of the territory of Nunavut. Name this bay.

3. Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?

OTHER QUESTIONS FROM FINAL ROUNDS

4. Name this eastern African city, the largest in its country, where a flight from the north would approach the city immediately after flying over the island of Zanzibar.

5. The tomb of Herod the Great, king of Judaea in the second half of the last century B.C., was discovered in the Herodium complex, a hill located approximately 15 miles northeast of the largest city in the West Bank. Name this city.

6. Name the 150-mile-wide strait that separates the island of Tasmania from the Australian mainland.

Answers: 1. Bahrain. 2. James Bay. 3. Romania. 4. Dar es Salaam. 5. Hebron. 6. Bass Strait