Let $a$, $b$, $n$ be positive integers such that $a + b \leq n^2$. Alice and Bob play a game on an (initially uncoloured) $n\times n$ grid as follows: - First, Alice paints $a$ cells green. - Then, Bob paints $b$ other (i.e.uncoloured) cells blue. Alice wins if she can find a path of non-blue cells starting with the bottom left cell and ending with the top right cell (where a path is a sequence of cells such that any two consecutive ones have a common side), otherwise Bob wins. Determine, in terms of $a$, $b$ and $n$, who has a winning strategy.

Peter buys a lottery ticket on which he enters an $n$-digit number, none of the digits being $0$. On the draw date, the lottery administrators will reveal an $n\times n$ table, each cell containing one of the digits from $1$ to $9$. A ticket wins a prize if it does not match any row or column of this table, read in either direction. Peter wants to bribe the administrators to reveal the digits on some cells chosen by Peter, so that Peter can guarantee to have a winning ticket. What is the minimum number of digits Peter has to know?

A blackboard contains $2018$ instances of the digit $1$ separated by spaces. Georg and his mother play a game where they take turns filling in one of the spaces between the digits with either a $+$ or a $\times$. Georg begins, and the game ends when all spaces have been filled. Georg wins if the value of the expression is even, and his mother wins if it is odd. Which player may prepare a strategy which secures him/her victory?

$2019$ coins are on the table. Two students play the following game making alternating moves. The first player can in one move take the odd number of coins from $ 1$ to $99$, the second player in one move can take an even number of coins from $2$ to $100$. The player who can not make a move is lost. Who has the winning strategy in this game?

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Two players $A$ and $B$ play a game in which they take turns choosing positive integers $k \le n$. The rules of the game are: (i) A player cannot choose a number that has been chosen by either player on any previous turn. (ii) A player cannot choose a number consecutive to any of those the player has already chosen on any previous turn. (iii) The game is a draw if all numbers have been chosen; otherwise the player who cannot choose a number anymore loses the game. The player $A$ takes the first turn. Determine the outcome of the game, assuming that both players use optimal strategies. [i]Proposed by Finland[/i]

In the centre of a square swimming pool is a boy, while his teacher (who cannot swim) is standing at one corner of the pool. The teacher can run three times as fast as the boy can swim, but the boy can run faster than the teacher . Can the boy escape from the teacher?

Let $T$ be the set of ordered triples $(x,y,z)$, where $x,y,z$ are integers with $0\leq x,y,z\leq9$. Players $A$ and $B$ play the following guessing game. Player $A$ chooses a triple $(x,y,z)$ in $T$, and Player $B$ has to discover $A$[i]'s[/i] triple in as few moves as possible. A [i]move[/i] consists of the following: $B$ gives $A$ a triple $(a,b,c)$ in $T$, and $A$ replies by giving $B$ the number $\left|x+y-a-b\right |+\left|y+z-b-c\right|+\left|z+x-c-a\right|$. Find the minimum number of moves that $B$ needs to be sure of determining $A$[i]'s[/i] triple.

Anna and Basilis play a game writing numbers on a board as follows: The two players play in turns and if in the board is written the positive integer $n$, the player whose turn is chooses a prime divisor $p$ of $n$ and writes the numbers $n+p$. In the board, is written at the start number $2$ and Anna plays first. The game is won by whom who shall be first able to write a number bigger or equal to $31$. Find who player has a winning strategy, that is who may writing the appropriate numbers may win the game no matter how the other player plays.

Three friends Archie, Billie, and Charlie play a game. At the beginning of the game, each of them has a pile of $2024$ pebbles. Archie makes the first move, Billie makes the second, Charlie makes the third and they continue to make moves in the same order. In each move, the player making the move must choose a positive integer $n$ greater than any previously chosen number by any player, take $2n$ pebbles from his pile and distribute them equally to the other two players. If a player cannot make a move, the game ends and that player loses the game. $\hspace{5px}$ Determine all the players who have a strategy such that, regardless of how the other two players play, they will not lose the game. [i]Proposed by Ilija Jovčeski, Macedonia[/i]

The Magician and his Assistant show trick. The Viewer writes on the board the sequence of $N$ digits. Then the Assistant covers some pair of adjacent digits so that they become invisible. Finally, the Magician enters the show, looks at the board and guesses the covered digits and their order. Find the minimal $N$ such that the Magician and his Assistant can agree in advance so that the Magician always guesses right

There are two bowls on a table, one white and one black. In the white bowl there $2019$ balls. Players $A$ and $B$ play a game where they make every other move ($A$ begins). One move consists is $\bullet$ to move one or your balls from one bowl to the other, or $\bullet$ to remove a ball from the white bowl, with the condition that the resulting position (that is, the number of bullets in the two bowls) have not occurred before. The player who has no valid move to make loses. Can any of the players be sure to win? If so, which one?

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Two players $A$ and $B$ play a game in which they take turns choosing positive integers $k \le n$. The rules of the game are: (i) A player cannot choose a number that has been chosen by either player on any previous turn. (ii) A player cannot choose a number consecutive to any of those the player has already chosen on any previous turn. (iii) The game is a draw if all numbers have been chosen; otherwise the player who cannot choose a number anymore loses the game. The player $A$ takes the first turn. Determine the outcome of the game, assuming that both players use optimal strategies. [i]Proposed by Finland[/i]

Alice and Bob play the following game: Alice picks a set $A = \{1, 2, ..., n \}$ for some natural number $n \ge 2$. Then, starting from Bob, they alternatively choose one number from the set $A$, according to the following conditions: initially Bob chooses any number he wants, afterwards the number chosen at each step should be distinct from all the already chosen numbers and should differ by $1$ from an already chosen number. The game ends when all numbers from the set $A$ are chosen. Alice wins if the sum of all the numbers that she has chosen is composite. Otherwise Bob wins. Decide which player has a winning strategy. Proposed by [i]Demetres Christofides, Cyprus[/i]

Alice has 8 coins. She knows for sure only that 7 of these coins are genuine and weigh the same, while the remaining one is counterfeit and is either heavier or lighter than any of the other 7. Bob has a balance scale. The scale shows which plate is heavier but does not show by how much. For each measurement, Alice pays Bob beforehand a fee of one coin. If a genuine coin has been paid, Bob tells Alice the correct weighing outcome, but if a counterfeit coin has been paid, he gives a random answer. Alice wants to identify 5 genuine coins and not to give any of these coins to Bob. Can Alice achieve this result for sure?

Let $n$ be a given positive integer. Sisyphus performs a sequence of turns on a board consisting of $n + 1$ squares in a row, numbered $0$ to $n$ from left to right. Initially, $n$ stones are put into square $0$, and the other squares are empty. At every turn, Sisyphus chooses any nonempty square, say with $k$ stones, takes one of these stones and moves it to the right by at most $k$ squares (the stone should say within the board). Sisyphus' aim is to move all $n$ stones to square $n$. Prove that Sisyphus cannot reach the aim in less than \[ \left \lceil \frac{n}{1} \right \rceil + \left \lceil \frac{n}{2} \right \rceil + \left \lceil \frac{n}{3} \right \rceil + \dots + \left \lceil \frac{n}{n} \right \rceil \] turns. (As usual, $\lceil x \rceil$ stands for the least integer not smaller than $x$. )

Let $ p \geq 2$ be a prime number. Eduardo and Fernando play the following game making moves alternately: in each move, the current player chooses an index $i$ in the set $\{0,1,2,\ldots, p-1 \}$ that was not chosen before by either of the two players and then chooses an element $a_i$ from the set $\{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9\}$. Eduardo has the first move. The game ends after all the indices have been chosen .Then the following number is computed: $$M=a_0+a_110+a_210^2+\cdots+a_{p-1}10^{p-1}= \sum_{i=0}^{p-1}a_i.10^i$$. The goal of Eduardo is to make $M$ divisible by $p$, and the goal of Fernando is to prevent this. Prove that Eduardo has a winning strategy. [i]Proposed by Amine Natik, Morocco[/i]

Five identical empty buckets of $2$-liter capacity stand at the vertices of a regular pentagon. Cinderella and her wicked Stepmother go through a sequence of rounds: At the beginning of every round, the Stepmother takes one liter of water from the nearby river and distributes it arbitrarily over the five buckets. Then Cinderella chooses a pair of neighbouring buckets, empties them to the river and puts them back. Then the next round begins. The Stepmother goal's is to make one of these buckets overflow. Cinderella's goal is to prevent this. Can the wicked Stepmother enforce a bucket overflow? [i]Proposed by Gerhard Woeginger, Netherlands[/i]

There is the number $1$ on the board at the beginning. If the number $a$ is written on the board, then we can also write a natural number $b$ such that $a + b + 1$ is a divisor of $a^2 + b^2 + 1$. Can any positive integer appear on the board after a certain time? Justify your answer.

Two pirates divide the loot, consisting of two bags of coins and a diamond, according to the following rules. First the first pirate takes take a few coins from any bag and transfer them from this bag in the other the same number of coins. Then the second pirate does the same (choosing the bag from which he takes the coins at his discretion) and etc. until you can take coins according to these rules. The pirate who takes the coins last gets the diamond. Who will get the diamond if is each of the pirates trying to get it? Give your answer depending on the initial number of coins in the bags.

Adamu and Afaafa choose, each in his turn, positive integers as coefficients of a polynomial of degree $n$. Adamu wins if the polynomial obtained has an integer root; otherwise, Afaafa wins. Afaafa plays first if $n$ is odd; otherwise Adamu plays first. Prove that: [list] [*] Adamu has a winning strategy if $n$ is odd. [*] Afaafa has a winning strategy if $n$ is even. [/list]

Consider a regular polygon $A_1A_2\ldots A_{6n+3}$. The vertices $A_{2n+1}, A_{4n+2}, A_{6n+3}$ are called [i]holes[/i]. Initially there are three pebbles in some vertices of the polygon, which are also vertices of equilateral triangle. Players $A$ and $B$ take moves in turn. In each move, starting from $A$, the player chooses pebble and puts it to the next vertex clockwise (for example, $A_2\rightarrow A_3$, $A_{6n+3}\rightarrow A_1$). Player $A$ wins if at least two pebbles lie in holes after someone's move. Does player $A$ always have winning strategy? [i]Proposed by Bohdan Rublov [/i]

Mojtaba and Hooman are playing a game. Initially Mojtaba draws $2018$ vectors with zero sum. Then in each turn, starting with Mojtaba, the player takes a vector and puts it on the plane. After the first move, the players must put their vector next to the previous vector (the beginning of the vector must lie on the end of the previous vector). At last, there will be a closed polygon. If this polygon is not self-intersecting, Mojtaba wins. Otherwise Hooman. Who has the winning strategy? [i]Proposed by Mahyar Sefidgaran, Jafar Namdar [/i]

The numbers $1,2,\dots,2000$ are written on the board. Two players are playing a game with alternating moves. A move consists of erasing two number $a,b$ and writing $a^b$. After some time only one number is left. The first player wins, if the numbers last digit is $2$, $7$ or $8$. If not, the second player wins. Who has a winning strategy? [I]Proposed by V. Frank[/i]

Let $N\geq 4$ be a fixed positive integer. Two players, $A$ and $B$ are forming an ordered set $\{x_1,x_2,...\},$ adding elements alternatively. $A$ chooses $x_1$ to be $1$ or $-1,$ then $B$ chooses $x_2$ to be $2$ or $-2,$ then $A$ chooses $x_3$ to be $3$ or $-3,$ and so on. (at the $k^{th}$ step, the chosen number must always be $k$ or $-k$) The winner is the first player to make the sequence sum up to a multiple of $N.$ Depending on $N,$ find out, with proof, which player has a winning strategy.

Santa Claus plays a guessing game with Marvin before giving him his present. He hides the present behind one of $100$ doors, numbered from $1$ to $100$. Marvin can point at a door, and then Santa Claus will reply with one of the following words: $\bullet$ "hot" if the present lies behind the guessed door, $\bullet$ "warm" if the guess is not exact but the number of the guessed door differs from that of the present’s door by at most $5$, $\bullet$ "cold" if the numbers of the two doors differ by more than $5$. At least how many such guesses does Marvin need, so that he can be certain about where his present is? Marvin does not necessarily need to make a "hot" guess, just to know the correct door with $100\%$ certainty.