On a rectangular board with $m \times n$ squares ($m, n \ge 3$) there are dominoes ($2 \times 1$ or $1\times 2$ tiles), which do not overlap and do not extend beyond the board. Every domino covers exactly two squares of the board. Assume that the dominos cover the has the property that no more dominos can be added to the board and that the four corner spaces of the board are not all empty. Prove that at least $2/3$ of the squares of the board are covered with dominos.

The checker is standing on the corner field of a $n\times n$ chess-board. Each of two players moves it in turn to the neighbour (i.e. that has the common side) field. It is forbidden to move to the field, the checker has already visited. That who cannot make a move losts. a) Prove that for even $n$ the first can always win, and if $n$ is odd, than the second can always win. b) Who wins if the checker stands initially on the neighbour to the corner field?

A domino is a $ 1 \times 2 $ or $ 2 \times 1 $ tile. Let $n \ge 3 $ be an integer. Dominoes are placed on an $n \times n$ board in such a way that each domino covers exactly two cells of the board, and dominoes do not overlap. The value of a row or column is the number of dominoes that cover at least one cell of this row or column. The configuration is called balanced if there exists some $k \ge 1 $ such that each row and each column has a value of $k$. Prove that a balanced configuration exists for every $n \ge 3 $, and find the minimum number of dominoes needed in such a configuration.

A $2N\times2N$ board is covered by non-overlapping dominos of $1\times2$ size. A lame rook (which can only move one cell at a time, horizontally or vertically) has visited each cell once on its route across the board. Call a move by the rook longitudinal if it is a move from one cell of a domino to another cell of the same domino. What is: [list=a] [*]the maximum possible number of longitudinal moves? [*]the minimum possible number of longitudinal moves? [/list]

Is it possible to use $2 \times 1$ dominoes to cover a $2k \times 2k$ checkerboard which has $2$ squares, one of each colour, removed ?

A $8\times 8$ board is divided in dominoes (rectangles with dimensions $1 \times 2$ or $2 \times 1$). [list=a] [*] Prove that the total length of the border between horizontal and vertical dominoes is at most $52$. [*] Determine the maximum possible total length of the border between horizontal and vertical dominoes. [/list] [i]Proposed by B. Frenkin, A. Zaslavsky, E. Arzhantseva[/i]

An $m \times n$ chessboard with $m,n \ge 2$ is given. Some dominoes are placed on the chessboard so that the following conditions are satisfied: (i) Each domino occupies two adjacent squares of the chessboard, (ii) It is not possible to put another domino onto the chessboard without overlapping, (iii) It is not possible to slide a domino horizontally or vertically without overlapping. Prove that the number of squares that are not covered by a domino is less than $\frac15 mn$.

On a $1000\times 1000$-board we put dominoes, in such a way that each domino covers exactly two squares on the board. Moreover, two dominoes are not allowed to be adjacent, but are allowed to touch in a vertex. Determine the maximum number of dominoes that we can put on the board in this way. [i]Attention: you have to really prove that a greater number of dominoes is impossible. [/i]

A chessboard is covered with $32$ dominos. Each domino covers two adjacent squares. Show that the number of horizontal dominos with a white square on the left equals the number with a white square on the right.

There are three types of piece shown as below. Today Alice wants to cover a $100 \times 101$ board with these pieces without gaps and overlaps. Determine the minimum number of $1\times 1$ pieces should be used to cover the whole board and not exceed the board. (There are an infinite number of these three types of pieces.) [asy] size(9cm,0); defaultpen(fontsize(12pt)); draw((9,10) -- (59,10) -- (59,60) -- (9,60) -- cycle); draw((59,10) -- (109,10) -- (109,60) -- (59,60) -- cycle); draw((9,60) -- (59,60) -- (59,110) -- (9,110) -- cycle); draw((9,110) -- (59,110) -- (59,160) -- (9,160) -- cycle); draw((109,10) -- (159,10) -- (159,60) -- (109,60) -- cycle); draw((180,11) -- (230,11) -- (230,61) -- (180,61) -- cycle); draw((180,61) -- (230,61) -- (230,111) -- (180,111) -- cycle); draw((230,11) -- (280,11) -- (280,61) -- (230,61) -- cycle); draw((230,61) -- (280,61) -- (280,111) -- (230,111) -- cycle); draw((280,11) -- (330,11) -- (330,61) -- (280,61) -- cycle); draw((280,61) -- (330,61) -- (330,111) -- (280,111) -- cycle); draw((330,11) -- (380,11) -- (380,61) -- (330,61) -- cycle); draw((330,61) -- (380,61) -- (380,111) -- (330,111) -- cycle); draw((401,11) -- (451,11) -- (451,61) -- (401,61) -- cycle); [/asy] [i]Proposed by amano_hina[/i]

A cricket wants to move across a $2n \times 2n$ board that is entirely covered by dominoes, with no overlap. He jumps along the vertical lines of the board, always going from the midpoint of the vertical segment of a $1 \times 1$ square to another midpoint of the vertical segment, according to the rules: $(i)$ When the domino is horizontal, the cricket jumps to the opposite vertical segment (such as from $P_2$ to $P_3$); $(ii)$ When the domino is vertical downwards in relation to its position, the cricket jumps diagonally downwards (such as from $P_1$ to $P_2$); $(iii)$ When the domino is vertically upwards relative to its position, the cricket jumps diagonally upwards (such as from $P_3$ to $P_4$). The image illustrates a possible covering and path on the $4 \times 4$ board. Considering that the starting point is on the first vertical line and the finishing point is on the last vertical line, prove that, regardless of the covering of the board and the height at which the cricket starts its path, the path ends at the same initial height.

All the cells of a $10\times10$ board are colored white initially. Two players are playing a game with alternating moves. A move consists of coloring any un-colored cell black. A player is considered to loose, if after his move no white domino is left. Which of the players has a winning strategy? [I]Proposed by A. Khrabrov[/i]

Sofia and Viktor are playing the following game on a $2022 \times 2022$ board: - Firstly, Sofia covers the table completely by dominoes, no two are overlapping and all are inside the table; - Then Viktor without seeing the table, chooses a positive integer $n$; - After that Viktor looks at the table covered with dominoes, chooses and fixes $n$ of them; - Finally, Sofia removes the remaining dominoes that aren't fixed and tries to recover the table with dominoes differently from before. If she achieves that, she wins, otherwise Viktor wins. What is the minimum number $n$ for which Viktor can always win, no matter the starting covering of dominoes. [i]Proposed by Viktor Simjanoski[/i]

In a $50\times 50$ checkered square, each cell is colored in one of the 100 given colors so that all colors are used and there does not exist a monochromatic domino. Galia wants to repaint all the cells of one of the colors in a different color (from the given 100 colors) so that a monochromatic domino still won't exist. Is it true that Galia will surely be able to do this [i]Proposed by G. Sharafutdinova[/i]

A $300\times 300$ board is arbitrarily filled with $2\times 1$ dominoes with no overflow, underflow, or overlap. (Tokens can be placed vertically or horizontally.) Decide if it is possible to paint the tiles with three different colors, so that the following conditions are met: $\bullet$ Each token is painted in one and only one of the colors. $\bullet$ The same number of tiles are painted in each color. $\bullet$ No piece is a neighbor of more than two pieces of the same color. Note: Two dominoes are [i]neighbors [/i]if they share an edge.

You are given an odd number $n\ge 3$. For every pair of integers $(i, j)$ with $1\le i \le j \le n$ there is a domino, with $i$ written on one its end and with $j$ written on another (there are $\frac{n(n+1)}{2}$ domino overall). Amin took this dominos and started to put them in a row so that numbers on the adjacent sides of the dominos are equal. He has put $k$ dominos in this way, got bored and went away. After this Anton came to see this $k$ dominos, and he realized that he can't put all the remaining dominos in this row by the rules. For which smallest value of $k$ is this possible? [i]Oleksii Masalitin[/i]

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Determine the smallest positive integer $k$ with the following property: it is possible to mark $k$ cells on a $2n \times 2n$ board so that there exists a unique partition of the board into $1 \times 2$ and $2 \times 1$ dominoes, none of which contain two marked cells.

A domino is a $1 \times 2$ (or 2 $\times 1$) rectangular piece; namely, made up of two squares. There is an $8 \times 8$ board such that each domino can be cover exactly two of its squares. John places $n$ dominoes on the board, so that each one covers exactly two squares of the board and it is no longer possible to place a piece more without overlapping with any of those already placed. Determine the smallest value of $n$ for which the described situation is possible.

A domino is a $1\times2$ or $2\times 1$ rectangle. Diego wants to completely cover a $6\times 6$ board using $18$ dominoes. Determine the smallest positive integer $k$ for which Diego can place $k$ dominoes on the board (without overlapping) such that what remains of the board can be covered uniquely using the remaining dominoes.