In a sports tournament of $n$ players, each pair of players plays against each other exactly one match and there are no draws.Show that the players can be arranged in an order $P_1,P_2, .... , P_n$ such that $P_i$ defeats $P_{i+1}$ for all $1 \le i \le n-1$.

Consider the figure below, composed of 16 segments. Prove that there is no curve intersecting each segment exactly once. (The curve may be not closed, may intersect itself, but it is not allowed to touch the segments or to pass through the vertices.) [asy] draw((0,0)--(6,0)--(6,3)--(0,3)--(0,0)); draw((0,3/2)--(6,3/2)); draw((2,0)--(2,3/2)); draw((4,0)--(4,3/2)); draw((3,3/2)--(3,3)); [/asy]

Let $n$ be any positive integer, and let $S(n)$ denote the number of permutations $\tau$ of $\{1,\dots,n\}$ such that $k^4+(\tau(k))^4$ is prime for all $k=1,\dots,n$. Show that $S(n)$ is always a square.

Consider an equilateral triangular grid $G$ with $20$ points on a side, where each row consists of points spaced $1$ unit apart. More specifically, there is a single point in the first row, two points in the second row, ..., and $20$ points in the last row, for a total of $210$ points. Let $S$ be a closed non-self-intersecting polygon which has $210$ vertices, using each point in $G$ exactly once. Find the sum of all possible values of the area of $S$.

In a class of $30$ kids are distributed $430 $ apples . Prove that at least two kids will take the same number of apples.

Let $a$ and $b$ be positive integers, and let $A$ and $B$ be finite sets of integers satisfying (i) $A$ and $B$ are disjoint; (ii) if an integer $i$ belongs to either to $A$ or to $B$, then either $i+a$ belongs to $A$ or $i-b$ belongs to $B$. Prove that $a\left\lvert A \right\rvert = b \left\lvert B \right\rvert$. (Here $\left\lvert X \right\rvert$ denotes the number of elements in the set $X$.)

We call a coloring $f$ of the elements in the set $M = \{(x, y) | x = 0, 1, \dots , kn - 1; y = 0, 1, \dots , ln - 1\}$ with $n$ colors allowable if every color appears exactly $k$ and $ l$ times in each row and column and there are no rectangles with sides parallel to the coordinate axes such that all the vertices in $M$ have the same color. Prove that every allowable coloring $f$ satisfies $kl \leq n(n + 1).$

Let $k$ be a positive integer. A sequence of integers $a_1, a_2, \cdots$ is called $k$-pop if the following holds: for every $n \in \mathbb{N}$, $a_n$ is equal to the number of distinct elements in the set $\{a_1, \cdots , a_{n+k} \}$. Determine, as a function of $k$, how many $k$-pop sequences there are. [i]Proposed by Sutanay Bhattacharya[/i]

Let \(n\) be a positive integer and consider an \(n\times n\) square grid. For \(1\le k\le n\), a [i]python[/i] of length \(k\) is a snake that occupies \(k\) consecutive cells in a single row, and no other cells. Similarly, an [i]anaconda[/i] of length \(k\) is a snake that occupies \(k\) consecutive cells in a single column, and no other cells. The grid contains at least one python or anaconda, and it satisfies the following properties: [list] [*]No cell is occupied by multiple snakes. [*]If a cell in the grid is immediately to the left or immediately to the right of a python, then that cell must be occupied by an anaconda. [*]If a cell in the grid is immediately to above or immediately below an anaconda, then that cell must be occupied by a python. [/list] Prove that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the snakes is at least \(n^2\). [i]Proposed by Linus Tang[/i]

We say a finite set $S$ of points with $|S|\ge3$ is [i]good[/i] if for any three distinct elements of $S$, they are non-collinear and the orthocenter of them is also in $S$. Find all good sets.

Prove that for every positive integer $n$ there exists a (not necessarily convex) polygon with no three collinear vertices, which admits exactly $n$ diffferent triangulations. (A [i]triangulation[/i] is a dissection of the polygon into triangles by interior diagonals which have no common interior points with each other nor with the sides of the polygon)

One country has $n$ cities and every two of them are linked by a railroad. A railway worker should travel by train exactly once through the entire railroad system (reaching each city exactly once). If it is impossible for worker to travel by train between two cities, he can travel by plane. What is the minimal number of flights that the worker will have to use?

Leo and Smilla find $2020$ gold nuggets with masses $1,2,\dots,2020$ gram, which they distribute to a red and a blue treasure chest according to the following rule: First, Leo chooses one of the chests and tells its colour to Smilla. Then Smilla chooses one of the not yet distributed nuggets and puts it into this chest. This is repeated until all the nuggets are distributed. Finally, Smilla chooses one of the chests and wins all the nuggets from this chest. How many gram of gold can Smilla make sure to win?

As shown in the figure, chess pieces are placed at the intersection points of the $64$ grid lines of the $7\times 7$ grid table. At most $1$ piece is placed at each point, and a total of $k$ left chess pieces are placed. No matter how they are placed, there will always be $4$ chess pieces, and the grid in which they are located the points form the four vertices of a rectangle (the sides of the rectangle are parallel to the grid lines). Try to find the minimum value of $k$. [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/5/b/23a79f43d3f4c9aade1ba9eaa7a282c3b3b86f.png[/img]

Given is a regular polygon. Volodya wants to mark $k$ points on its perimeter so that any another regular polygon (maybe having a different number of sides) doesn’t contain all marked points on its perimeter. Find the minimal $k$ sufficient for any given polygon.

The plane is divided into squares by two sets of parallel lines, forming an infinite grid. Each unit square is coloured with one of $1201$ colours so that no rectangle with perimeter $100$ contains two squares of the same colour. Show that no rectangle of size $1\times1201$ or $1201\times1$ contains two squares of the same colour. [i]Note: Any rectangle is assumed here to have sides contained in the lines of the grid.[/i] [i](Bulgaria - Nikolay Beluhov)[/i]

Each vertex of the 3-dimensional Euclidean space either is coloured red or blue. Prove that within those squares being possible in this space with edge length 1 there is at least one square either with three red vertices or four blue vertices !

There are $10001$ students at an university. Some students join together to form several clubs (a student may belong to different clubs). Some clubs join together to form several societies (a club may belong to different societies). There are a total of $k$ societies. Suppose that the following conditions hold: [i]i.)[/i] Each pair of students are in exactly one club. [i]ii.)[/i] For each student and each society, the student is in exactly one club of the society. [i]iii.)[/i] Each club has an odd number of students. In addition, a club with ${2m+1}$ students ($m$ is a positive integer) is in exactly $m$ societies. Find all possible values of $k$. [i]Proposed by Guihua Gong, Puerto Rico[/i]

Prove that for any positive integer one can place all it's divisor on a circle such that among any two neighbours one is a multiple of the other

Aidan and Andrew independently select distinct cells in a $4 $ by $4$ grid, as well as a direction (either up, down, left, or right), both at random. Every second, each of them will travel $1$ cell in their chosen direction. Find the probability that Aidan and Andrew willmeet (be in the same cell at the same time) before either one of them hits an edge of the grid. (If Aidan and Andrew cross paths by switching cells, it doesn’t count as meeting.)

A bank has one million clients, one of whom is Inspector Gadget. Each client has a unique PIN number consisting of six digits. Dr. Claw has a list of all the clients. He is able to break into the account of any client, choose any $n$ digits of the PIN number and copy them. The n digits he copies from different clients need not be in the same $n$ positions. He can break into the account of each client, but only once. What is the smallest value of $n$ which allows Dr.Claw to determine the complete PIN number of Inspector Gadget?

A collection of \( n \) balls is distributed in several boxes, with no box containing 100 or more balls. In one move, we can remove several (at least one, possibly all) balls from one box. Find the smallest positive integer \( n \) with the following property: regardless of the distribution, we can make moves such that each non-empty box contains the same number of balls and the total number of remaining balls is at least 100.

Let \( n \geq 4 \) be a positive integer. Initially, each of \( n \) girls knows one piece of gossip that no one else knows, and they want to share them. For greater security, to avoid being spied, they only talk in pairs, and in a conversation, each girl shares all the gossip she knows so far with the other one. What is the minimum number of conversations needed so that every girl knows all the gossip?

In an $m\times n$ rectangular chessboard,there is a stone in the lower leftmost square. Two persons A,B move the stone alternately. In each step one can move the stone upward or rightward any number of squares. The one who moves it into the upper rightmost square wins. Find all $(m,n)$ such that the first person has a winning strategy.

We have erasers, four pencils, two note books and three pens and we want to divide them between two persons so that every one receives at least one of the above stationery. In how many ways is this possible? [Note that the are not distinct.]