Jeremy has a magic scale, each side of which holds a positive integer. He plays the following game: each turn, he chooses a positive integer $n$. He then adds $n$ to the number on the left side of the scale, and multiplies by $n$ the number on the right side of the scale. (For example, if the turn starts with $4$ on the left and $6$ on the right, and Jeremy chooses $n = 3$, then the turn ends with $7$ on the left and $18$ on the right.) Jeremy wins if he can make both sides of the scale equal. (a) Show that if the game starts with the left scale holding $17$ and the right scale holding $5$, then Jeremy can win the game in $4$ or fewer turns. (b) Prove that if the game starts with the right scale holding $b$, where $b\geq 2$, then Jeremy can win the game in $b-1$ or fewer turns.

[b]Problem 3.[/b] Let $n\geq 3$ is given natural number, and $M$ is the set of the first $n$ primes. For any nonempty subset $X$ of $M$ with $P(X)$ denote the product of its elements. Let $N$ be a set of the kind $\ds\frac{P(A)}{P(B)}$, $A\subset M, B\subset M, A\cap B=\emptyset$ such that the product of any 7 elements of $N$ is integer. What is the maximal number of elements of $N$? [i]Alexandar Ivanov[/i]

Consider a board on $2013 \times 2013$ squares, what is the maximum number of chess knights that can be placed so that no $2$ attack each other?

Let $A$ be the largest subset of $\{1,\dots,n\}$ such that for each $x\in A$, $x$ divides at most one other element in $A$. Prove that \[\frac{2n}3\leq |A|\leq \left\lceil \frac{3n}4\right\rceil. \]

Let $n$ be a positive integer. For any positive integer $j$ and positive real number $r$, define $f_j(r)$ and $g_j(r)$ by \[f_j(r) = \min (jr, n) + \min\left(\frac{j}{r}, n\right), \text{ and } g_j(r) = \min (\lceil jr\rceil, n) + \min \left(\left\lceil\frac{j}{r}\right\rceil, n\right),\] where $\lceil x\rceil$ denotes the smallest integer greater than or equal to $x$. Prove that \[\sum_{j=1}^n f_j(r)\leq n^2+n\leq \sum_{j=1}^n g_j(r)\] for all positive real numbers $r$.

Let $X$ be a set with $n$ elements, and let $A_{1}$, $A_{2}$, ..., $A_{m}$ be subsets of $X$ such that: 1) $|A_{i}|=3$ for every $i\in\left\{1,2,...,m\right\}$; 2) $|A_{i}\cap A_{j}|\leq 1$ for all $i,j\in\left\{1,2,...,m\right\}$ such that $i \neq j$. Prove that there exists a subset $A$ of $X$ such that $A$ has at least $\left[\sqrt{2n}\right]$ elements, and for every $i\in\left\{1,2,...,m\right\}$, the set $A$ does not contain $A_{i}$. [i]Alternative formulation.[/i] Let $X$ be a finite set with $n$ elements and $A_{1},A_{2},\ldots, A_{m}$ be three-elements subsets of $X$, such that $|A_{i}\cap A_{j}|\leq 1$, for every $i\neq j$. Prove that there exists $A\subseteq X$ with $|A|\geq \lfloor \sqrt{2n}\rfloor$, such that none of $A_{i}$'s is a subset of $A$.

Find all positive real numbers $t$ with the following property: there exists an infinite set $X$ of real numbers such that the inequality \[ \max\{|x-(a-d)|,|y-a|,|z-(a+d)|\}>td\] holds for all (not necessarily distinct) $x,y,z\in X$, all real numbers $a$ and all positive real numbers $d$.

1. Around a circumference are written $2012$ number, each of with is equal to $1$ or $-1$. If there are not $10$ consecutive numbers that sum $0$, find all possible values of the sum of the $2012$ numbers.

Expanding $(1+0.2)^{1000}$ by the binomial theorem and doing no further manipulation gives \begin{eqnarray*} &\ & \binom{1000}{0}(0.2)^0+\binom{1000}{1}(0.2)^1+\binom{1000}{2}(0.2)^2+\cdots+\binom{1000}{1000}(0.2)^{1000}\\ &\ & = A_0 + A_1 + A_2 + \cdots + A_{1000}, \end{eqnarray*} where $A_k = \binom{1000}{k}(0.2)^k$ for $k = 0,1,2,\ldots,1000$. For which $k$ is $A_k$ the largest?

Let $k\ge 1$ be a positive integer. We consider $4k$ chips, $2k$ of which are red and $2k$ of which are blue. A sequence of those $4k$ chips can be transformed into another sequence by a so-called move, consisting of interchanging a number (possibly one) of consecutive red chips with an equal number of consecutive blue chips. For example, we can move from $r\underline{bb}br\underline{rr}b$ to $r\underline{rr}br\underline{bb}b$ where $r$ denotes a red chip and $b$ denotes a blue chip. Determine the smallest number $n$ (as a function of $k$) such that starting from any initial sequence of the $4k$ chips, we need at most $n$ moves to reach the state in which the first $2k$ chips are red.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Daniel and Merlijn are playing a game. Daniel has $k$ sheets of paper lying next to each other on a table, where $k$ is a positive integer. On each of the sheets, he writes some of the numbers from $1$ up to $n$ (he is allowed to write no number at all, or all numbers). On the back of each of the sheets, he writes down the remaining numbers. Once Daniel is finished, Merlijn can flip some of the sheets of paper (he is allowed to flip no sheet at all, or all sheets). If Merlijn succeeds in making all of the numbers from $1$ up to n visible at least once, then he wins. Determine the smallest $k$ for which Merlijn can always win, regardless of Daniel’s actions.

Let $A$ be a set consist of finite real numbers,$A_1,A_2,\cdots,A_n$ be nonempty sets of $A$, such that [b](a)[/b] The sum of the elements of $A$ is $0,$ [b](b)[/b] For all $x_i \in A_i(i=1,2,\cdots,n)$,we have $x_1+x_2+\cdots+x_n>0$. Prove that there exist $1\le k\le n,$ and $1\le i_1<i_2<\cdots<i_k\le n$, such that \[|A_{i_1}\bigcup A_{i_2} \bigcup \cdots \bigcup A_{i_k}|<\frac{k}{n}|A|.\] Where $|X|$ denote the numbers of the elements in set $X$.

Let $a$ and $b$ be two positive integers. Prove that the integer \[a^2+\left\lceil\frac{4a^2}b\right\rceil\] is not a square. (Here $\lceil z\rceil$ denotes the least integer greater than or equal to $z$.) [i]Russia[/i]

Suppose $A\subset \{(a_1,a_2,\dots,a_n)\mid a_i\in \mathbb{R},i=1,2\dots,n\}$. For any $\alpha=(a_1,a_2,\dots,a_n)\in A$ and $\beta=(b_1,b_2,\dots,b_n)\in A$, we define \[ \gamma(\alpha,\beta)=(|a_1-b_1|,|a_2-b_2|,\dots,|a_n-b_n|), \] \[ D(A)=\{\gamma(\alpha,\beta)\mid\alpha,\beta\in A\}. \] Please show that $|D(A)|\geq |A|$.

Determine whether it's possible to cover a $K_{2012}$ with a) 1000 $K_{1006}$'s; b) 1000 $K_{1006,1006}$'s. [i]David Yang.[/i]

A tournament on $2k$ vertices contains no $7$-cycles. Show that its vertices can be partitioned into two sets, each with size $k$, such that the edges between vertices of the same set do not determine any $3$-cycles. [i]Calvin Deng.[/i]

Sofía colours $46$ cells of a $9 \times 9$ board red. If Pedro can find a $2 \times 2$ square from the board that has $3$ or more red cells, he wins; otherwise, Sofía wins. Determine the player with the winning strategy.

Let $S$ be a set of 100 integers. Suppose that for all positive integers $x$ and $y$ (possibly equal) such that $x + y$ is in $S$, either $x$ or $y$ (or both) is in $S$. Prove that the sum of the numbers in $S$ is at most 10,000.

A person flips $2010$ coins at a time. He gains one penny every time he flips a prime number of heads, but must stop once he flips a non-prime number. If his expected amount of money gained in dollars is $\frac{a}{b}$, where $a$ and $b$ are relatively prime, compute $\lceil\log_{2}(100a+b)\rceil$. [i]Proposed by Lewis Chen[/i]

Positive integers $ a$, $ b$, and $ c$ are chosen so that $ a<b<c$, and the system of equations \[ 2x\plus{}y\equal{}2003\text{ and }y\equal{}|x\minus{}a|\plus{}|x\minus{}b|\plus{}|x\minus{}c| \]has exactly one solution. What is the minimum value of $ c$? $ \textbf{(A)}\ 668 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 669 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 1002 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 2003 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 2004$

All segments joining $n$ points (no three of which are collinear) are coloured in one of $k$ colours. What is the smallest $k$ for which there always exists a closed polygonal line with the vertices at some of the $n$ points, whose sides are all of the same colour?

Find the number of integers $n$ such that \[1+\left\lfloor\dfrac{100n}{101}\right\rfloor=\left\lceil\dfrac{99n}{100}\right\rceil.\]

Let $G$ be a directed graph with infinitely many vertices. It is known that for each vertex the outdegree is greater than the indegree. Let $O$ be a fixed vertex of $G$. For an arbitrary positive number $n$, let $V_{n}$ be the number of vertices which can be reached from $O$ passing through at most $n$ edges ( $O$ counts). Find the smallest possible value of $V_{n}$.

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Consider a triangular array of nonnegative integers as follows: \[ \begin{array}{rccccccccc} \text{Row } 1: &&&&& a_{0,1} &&&& \smallskip\\ \text{Row } 2: &&&& a_{0,2} && a_{1,2} &&& \smallskip\\ &&& \vdots && \vdots && \vdots && \smallskip\\ \text{Row } n-1: && a_{0,n-1} && a_{1,n-1} && \cdots && a_{n-2,n-1} & \smallskip\\ \text{Row } n: & a_{0,n} && a_{1,n} && a_{2,n} && \cdots && a_{n-1,n} \end{array} \] Call such a triangular array [i]stable[/i] if for every $0 \le i < j < k \le n$ we have \[ a_{i,j} + a_{j,k} \le a_{i,k} \le a_{i,j} + a_{j,k} + 1. \] For $s_1, \ldots s_n$ any nondecreasing sequence of nonnegative integers, prove that there exists a unique stable triangular array such that the sum of all of the entries in row $k$ is equal to $s_k$.

Let $ \alpha,\beta$ be real numbers satisfying $ 1 < \alpha < \beta.$ Find the greatest positive integer $ r$ having the following property: each of positive integers is colored by one of $ r$ colors arbitrarily, there always exist two integers $ x,y$ having the same color such that $ \alpha\le \frac {x}{y}\le\beta.$