Ali has $100$ cards with numbers $1,2,\ldots,100$. Ali and Amin play a game together. In each step, first Ali chooses a card from the remaining cards and Amin decides to pick that card for himself or throw it away. In the case that he picks the card, he can't pick the next card chosen by Amin, and he has to throw it away. This action repeats until when there is no remaining card for Ali. Amin wants to pick cards in a way that the sum of the number of his cards is maximized and Ali wants to choose cards in a way that the sum of the number of Amin's cards is minimized. Find the most value of $k$ such that Amin can play in a way that is sure the sum of the number of his cards will be at least equal to $k$.

We are given a row of $n\geq7$ tiles. In the leftmost 3 tiles, there is a white piece each, and in the rightmost 3 tiles, there is a black piece each. The white and black players play in turns (the white starts). In each move, a player may take a piece of their color, and move it to an adjacent tile, so long as it's not occupied by a piece of the [u]same color[/u]. If the new tile is empty, nothing happens. If the tile is occupied by a piece of the [u]opposite color[/u], both pieces are destroyed (both white and black). The player who destroys the last two pieces wins the game. Which player has a winning strategy, and what is it? (The answer may depend on $n$)

Given a $101\times 200$ sheet of graph paper, we start moving from a corner square in the direction of the square’s diagonal (not the sheet’s diagonal) to the border of the sheet, then change direction obeying the laws of light’s reflection. Will we ever reach a corner square? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/b/8/4ec2f4583f406feda004c7fb4f11a424c9b9ae.png[/img]

An integer is given $N> 1$. Arne and Britt play the following game: (1) Arne says a positive integer $A$. (2) Britt says an integer $B> 1$ that is either a divisor of $A$ or a multiple of $A$. ($A$ itself is a possibility.) (3) Arne says a new number $A$ that is either $B - 1, B$ or $B + 1$. The game continues by repeating steps 2 and 3. Britt wins if she is okay with being told the number $N$ before the $50$th has been said. Otherwise, Arne wins. a) Show that Arne has a winning strategy if $N = 10$. b) Show that Britt has a winning strategy if $N = 24$. c) For which $N$ does Britt have a winning strategy?

Alice and Bob play the following game on a square grid with $2024 \times 2024$ unit squares. They take turns covering unit squares with stickers including their names. Alice plays the odd-numbered turns, and Bob plays the even-numbered turns. \\ On the $k$-th turn, let $n_k$ be the least integer such that $n_k\geqslant\tfrac{k}{2024}$. If there is at least one square without a sticker, then the player taking the turn: [list = i] [*] selects at most $n_k$ unit squares on the grid such that at least one of the chosen unit squares does not have a sticker. [*] covers each of the selected unit squares with a sticker that has their name on it. If a selected square already has a sticker on it, then that sticker is removed first. [/list] At the end of their turn, a player wins if there exist $123$ unit squares containing stickers with that player's name that are placed on horizontally, vertically, or diagonally consecutive unit squares. We consider the game to be a draw if all of the unit squares are covered but no player has won yet. \\ Does Alice have a winning strategy? [i]Proposed by Erik Paemurru, Estonia[/i]

$10$ people are sitting at a round table. There are some nuts in front of each of them, $100$ nuts altogether. After a certain signal each person passes some of his nuts to the person sitting to his right . If he has an even number of nuts, he passes half of them; otherwise he passes one nut plus half of the remaining nuts. This procedure is repeated over and over again. Prove that eventually everyone will have exactly $10$ nuts. (A Shapovalov)

Let $k$ be a positive real. $A$ and $B$ play the following game: at the start, there are $80$ zeroes arrange around a circle. Each turn, $A$ increases some of these $80$ numbers, such that the total sum added is $1$. Next, $B$ selects ten consecutive numbers with the largest sum, and reduces them all to $0$. $A$ then wins the game if he/she can ensure that at least one of the number is $\geq k$ at some finite point of time. Determine all $k$ such that $A$ can always win the game.

Consider a $2023\times2023$ board split into unit squares. Two unit squares are called adjacent is they share at least one vertex. Mahler and Srecko play a game on this board. Initially, Mahler has one piece placed on the square marked [b]M[/b], and Srecko has a piece placed on the square marked by [b]S[/b] (see the attachment). The players alternate moving their piece, following three rules: 1. A piece can only be moved to a unit square adjacent to the one it is placed on. 2. A piece cannot be placed on a unit square on which a piece has been placed before (once used, a unit square can never be used again). 3. A piece cannot be moved to a unit square adjacent to the square occupied by the opponent’s piece. A player wins the game if his piece gets to the corner diagonally opposite to its starting position (i.e. Srecko moves to $s_p$, Mahler moves to $m_p$) or if the opponent has to move but has no legal move. Mahler moves first. Which player has a winning strategy?

The game of [b]Hive [/b]is played on a regular hexagonal grid (as shown in the figure) by 3 players. The grid consists of $k$ layers (where $k$ is a natural number) surrounding a regular hexagon, with each layer constructed around the previous layer. The figure below shows a grid with 2 layers. The players, [i]Ali[/i], [i]Shayan[/i], and [i]Sajad[/i], take turns playing the game. In each turn, a player places a tile, similar to the one shown in the figure, on the empty cells of the grid (rotation of the tile is also allowed). The first player who is unable to place a tile on the grid loses the game. Prove that two players can collaborate in such a way that the third player always loses. Proposed by [size=110]Pouria Mahmoudkhan Shirazi[/size].

Let $N$ be an odd number, $N\geq 3$. $N$ tennis players take part in a championship. Before starting the championship, a commission puts the players in a row depending on how good they think the players are. During the championship, every player plays with every other player exactly once, and each match has a winner. A match is called [i]suprising[/i] if the winner was rated lower by the commission. At the end of the tournament, players are arranged in a line based on the number of victories they have achieved. In the event of a tie, the commission's initial order is used to decide which player will be higher. It turns out that the final order is exactly the same as the commission's initial order. What is the maximal number of suprising matches that could have happened.

[b]p1.[/b] Frankie the frog likes to hop. On his first hop, he hops $1$ meter. On each successive hop, he hops twice as far as he did on the previous hop. For example, on his second hop, he hops $2$ meters, and on his third hop, he hops $4$ meters. How many meters, in total, has he travelled after $6$ hops? [b]p2.[/b] Anton flips $5$ fair coins. The probability that he gets an odd number of heads can be written in the form $\frac{m}{n}$ for relatively prime positive integers $m$ and $n$. Compute $m + n$. [b]p3.[/b] April discovers that the quadratic polynomial $x^2 + 5x + 3$ has distinct roots $a$ and $b$. She also discovers that the quadratic polynomial $x^2 + 7x + 4$ has distinct roots $c$ and $d$. Compute $$ac + bc + bd + ad + a + b.$$ [b]p4.[/b] A rectangular picture frame that has a $2$ inch border can exactly fit a $10$ by $7$ inch photo. What is the total area of the frame's border around the photo, in square inches? [b]p5.[/b] Compute the median of the positive divisors of $9999$. [b]p6.[/b] Kaity only eats bread, pizza, and salad for her meals. However, she will refuse to have salad if she had pizza for the meal right before. Given that she eats $3$ meals a day (not necessarily distinct), in how many ways can we arrange her meals for the day? [b]p7.[/b] A triangle has side lengths $3$, $4$, and $x$, and another triangle has side lengths $3$, $4$, and $2x$. Assuming both triangles have positive area, compute the number of possible integer values for $x$. [b]p8.[/b] In the diagram below, the largest circle has radius $30$ and the other two white circles each have a radius of $15$. Compute the radius of the shaded circle. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/c/1/9eaf1064b2445edb15782278fc9c6efd1440b0.png[/img] [b]p9.[/b] What is the remainder when $2022$ is divided by $9$? [b]p10.[/b] For how many positive integers $x$ less than $2022$ is $x^3 - x^2 + x - 1$ prime? [b]p11.[/b] A sphere and cylinder have the same volume, and both have radius $10$. The height of the cylinder can be written in the form $\frac{m}{n}$ for relatively prime positive integers $m$ and $n$. Compute $m + n$. [b]p12.[/b] Amanda, Brianna, Chad, and Derrick are playing a game where they pass around a red flag. Two players "interact" whenever one passes the flag to the other. How many different ways can the flag be passed among the players such that (1) each pair of players interacts exactly once, and (2) Amanda both starts and ends the game with the flag? [b]p13.[/b] Compute the value of $$\dfrac{12}{1 + \dfrac{12}{1+ \dfrac{12}{1+...}}}$$ [b]p14.[/b] Compute the sum of all positive integers $a$ such that $a^2 - 505$ is a perfect square. [b]p15.[/b] Alissa, Billy, Charles, Donovan, Eli, Faith, and Gerry each ask Sara a question. Sara must answer exactly $5$ of them, and must choose an order in which to answer the questions. Furthermore, Sara must answer Alissa and Billy's questions. In how many ways can Sara complete this task? [b]p16.[/b] The integers $-x$, $x^2 - 1$, and $x3$ form a non-decreasing arithmetic sequence (in that order). Compute the sum of all possible values of $x^3$. [b]p17.[/b] Moor and his $3$ other friends are trying to split burgers equally, but they will have $2$ left over. If they find another friend to split the burgers with, everyone can get an equal amount. What is the fewest number of burgers that Moor and his friends could have started with? [b]p18.[/b] Consider regular dodecagon $ABCDEFGHIJKL$ below. The ratio of the area of rectangle $AFGL$ to the area of the dodecagon can be written in the form $\frac{m}{n}$ for relatively prime positive integers $m$ and $n$. Compute $m + n$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/8/3/c38c10a9b2f445faae397d8a7bc4c8d3ed0290.png[/img] [b]p19.[/b] Compute the remainder when $3^{4^{5^6}}$ is divided by $4$. [b]p20.[/b] Fred is located at the middle of a $9$ by $11$ lattice (diagram below). At every second, he randomly moves to a neighboring point (left, right, up, or down), each with probability $1/4$. The probability that he is back at the middle after exactly $4$ seconds can be written in the form $\frac{m}{n}$ for relatively prime positive integers $m$ and $n$. Compute $m + n$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/7/c/f8e092e60f568ab7b28964d23b2ee02cdba7ad.png[/img] PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].

In a game two players alternately choose larger natural numbers. At each turn the difference between the new and the old number must be greater than zero but smaller than the old number. The original number is 2. The winner is considered to be the player who chooses the number $1987$. In a perfect game, which player wins?

Let $G$ be a complete directed graph with $2024$ vertices and let $k \leq 10^5$ be a positive integer. Angel and Boris play the following game: Angel colors $k$ of the edges in red and puts a pawn in one of the vertices. After that in each move, first Angel moves the pawn to a neighboring vertex and then Boris has to flip one of the non-colored edges. Boris wins if at some point Angel can't make a move. Find, depending on $G$ and $k$, whether or not Boris has a winning strategy.

Mari and Yuri play the next play. At first, there are two piles on the table, with $m$ and $n$ candies, respectively. At each turn, players eats one pile of candy from the table and distribute another pile of candy into two non-empty parts ,. Everything is done in turn and wins the player who can no longer share the pile (when there is only one candy left). Which player will win if both use the optimal strategy and Mari makes the first move?

[u]Fermi Questions[/u] [b]p1.[/b] What is $\sin (1000)$? (note: that's $1000$ radians, not degrees) [b]p2.[/b] In liters, what is the volume of $10$ million US dollars' worth of gold? [b]p3.[/b] How many trees are there on Earth? [b]p4.[/b] How many prime numbers are there between $10^8$ and $10^9$? [b]p5.[/b] What is the total amount of time spent by humans in spaceflight? [b]p6.[/b] What is the global domestic product (total monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country's borders in a year) of Bangladesh in US dollars? [b]p7.[/b] How much time does the average American spend eating during their lifetime, in hours? [b]p8.[/b] How many CHMMC-related emails did the directors receive or send in the last month? [u]Suspiciously Familiar. . .[/u] [b]p9.[/b] Suppose a farmer learns that he will die at the end of the year (day $365$, where today is day $0$) and that he has $100$ sheep. He decides to sell all his sheep on one day, and that his utility is given by $ab$ where $a$ is the money he makes by selling the sheep (which always have a fixed price) and $b$ is the number of days he has left to enjoy the profit; i.e., $365 - k$ where $k$ is the day number. If every day his sheep breed and multiply their numbers by $(421 + b)/421$ (yes, there are small, fractional sheep), on which day should he sell out? [b]p10.[/b] Suppose in your sock drawer of $14$ socks there are $5$ different colors and $3$ different lengths present. One day, you decide you want to wear two socks that have either different colors or different lengths but not both. Given only this information, what is the maximum number of choices you might have? [u]I'm So Meta Even This Acronym[/u] [b]p11.[/b] Let $\frac{s}{t}$ be the answer of problem $13$, written in lowest terms. Let $\frac{p}{q}$ be the answer of problem $12$, written in lowest terms. If player $1$ wins in problem $11$, let $n = q$. Otherwise, let $n = p$. Two players play a game on a connected graph with $n$ vertices and $t$ edges. On each player's turn, they remove one edge of the graph, and lose if this causes the graph to become disconnected. Which player (first or second) wins? [b]p12.[/b] Let $\frac{s}{t}$ be the answer of problem $13$, written in lowest terms. If player $1$ wins in problem $11$, let $n = t$. Otherwise, let $n = s$. Find the maximum value of $$\frac{x^n}{1 + \frac12 x + \frac14 x^2 + ...+ \frac{1}{2^{2n}} x^{2n}}$$ for $x > 0$. [b]p13.[/b] Let $\frac{p}{q}$ be the answer of problem $12$, written in lowest terms. Let $y$ be the largest integer such that $2^y$ divides $p$. If player $1$ wins in problem $11$, let $z = q$. Otherwise, let $z = p$. Suppose that $a_1 = 1$ and $$a_{n+1} = a_n -\frac{z}{n + 2}+\frac{2z}{n + 1}-\frac{z}{n}$$ What is $a_y$? PS. You had better use hide for answers. Collected [url=https://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h2760506p24143309]here[/url].