Humberto and Luciano use the break between classes to have fun with the following game: Humberto writes a list of distinct positive integers on a green sheet of paper and hands it to Luciano. Luciano then writes on a board all the possible sums, without repetitions, of one or more different numbers written on the green sheet. For example, if Humberto writes $1$, $3$ and $4$ on the green sheet, Luciano will write $1$, $3$, $4$, $5$, $7$ and $8$ on the board. (a) Let $n$ be a positive integer. Determine all positive integers $k$ such that Humberto can write a list of $n$ numbers on the green sheet in order to guarantee that Luciano will write exactly $k$ numbers on the board. (b) Luciano now decides to write a list of $m$ distinct positive integers on a yellow sheet of paper. Determine the smallest positive integer $m$ such that it is possible for Luciano to write this list so that, for any list that Humberto writes on the green sheet, with a maximum of $2023$ numbers, not all the numbers on the yellow sheet will be written on the board.

Petya and Vasya are playing on an $100\times 100$ board. Initially, all the cells of the board are white. With each of his moves, Petya paints one or more white cells standing on the same diagonal in black. With each of his moves, Vasya paints one or more white cells standing on the same column in black. Petya makes the first move. The one who can't make a move loses. Who has a winning strategy? [i]Proposed by M. Didin[/i]

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]

Gleb picked positive integers $N$ and $a$ ($a < N$). He wrote the number $a$ on a blackboard. Then each turn he did the following: he took the last number on the blackboard, divided the number $N$ by this last number with remainder and wrote the remainder onto the board. When he wrote the number $0$ onto the board, he stopped. Could he pick $N$ and $a$ such that the sum of the numbers on the blackboard would become greater than $100N$ ? Ivan Mitrofanov

The numbers $1, 2, ..., 2020$ and $2021$ are written on a blackboard. The following operation is executed: Two numbers are chosen, both are erased and replaced by the absolute value of their difference. This operation is repeated until there is only one number left on the blackboard. (a) Show that $2021$ can be the final number on the blackboard. (b) Show that $2020$ cannot be the final number on the blackboard. (Karl Czakler)

There are seven piles with $2014$ pebbles each and a pile with $2008$ pebbles. Ana and Beto play in turns and Ana always plays first. One move consists of removing pebbles from all the piles. From each pile is removed a different amount of pebbles, between $1$ and $8$ pebbles. The first player who cannot make a move loses. a) Who has a winning strategy? b) If there were seven piles with $2015$ pebbles each and a pile with $2008$ pebbles, who has a winning strategy?

On every square of a chessboard, there are as many grains as shown on the picture. Starting from an arbitrary square, a knight starts a journey over the chessboard. After every move it eats up all the grains from the square it arrived to, but when it leaves, the same number of grains is put back on the square. After some time the knight returns to its initial square. Prove that the total number of grains the knight has eaten up during the journey is divisible by $3$. [img]https://services.artofproblemsolving.com/download.php?id=YXR0YWNobWVudHMvZC8xL2IwOGZlODYxMDg1MWMwMWUwMjFkOGJkMWQ2MjA4YzIzZmQ5YTc5LnBuZw==&rn=U2NyZWVuIFNob3QgMjAyMS0wNC0yOCBhdCA3LjIzLjA3IEFNLnBuZw==[/img]

A table with $m$ rows and $n$ columns is given. In each cell of the table an integer is written. Heisuke and Oscar play the following game: at the beginning of each turn, Heisuke may choose to swap any two columns. Then he chooses some rows and writes down a new row at the bottom of the table, with each cell consisting the sum of the corresponding cells in the chosen rows. Oscar then deletes one row chosen by Heisuke (so that at the end of each turn there are exactly $m$ rows). Then the next turn begins and so on. Prove that Heisuke can assure that, after some finite amount of turns, no number in the table is smaller than the number to the number on his right. Example: If we begin with $(1,1,1),(6,5,4),(9,8,7)$, Heisuke may choose to swap the first and third column to get $(1,1,1),(4,5,6),(7,8,9)$. Then he chooses the first and second rows to obtain $(1,1,1),(4,5,6),(7,8,9),(5,6,7)$. Then Oscar has to delete either the first or the second row, let's say the second. We get $(1,1,1),(7,8,9),(5,6,7)$ and Heisuke wins.

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 $x$. )

Two players play the following game: Let $n$ be a fixed integer greater than $1$. Starting from number $k=2$, each player has two possible moves: either replace the number $k$ by $k+1$ or by $2k$. The player who is forced to write a number greater than $n$ loses the game. Which player has a winning strategy for which $n$?

There is a $2021 \times 2023$ board that has a white piece in the central square, on which Mich and Moka are going to play in turns. First Mich places a green token on any free space so that it is not in the same row or column as the white token, then Moka places a red token on any free space so that it is not in the same row or column as the white token. white or green. From now on, Mich will place green tokens and Moka will place red tokens alternately according to the following rules: $\bullet$ For the placed piece there must be another piece of the same color in its row or column, such that there is no other piece between both pieces. $\bullet$ If there is at least one box that meets the previous rule, then it is mandatory to place a token. When a token is placed, it changes all the tokens that are on squares adjacent to it to the same color. The game ends when one of the players can no longer place tiles. If when the game ends the board has more green tiles then Mich wins, and if it has more red tiles then Moka wins. Determine if either player has a winning strategy.

Let $N$ a positive integer. In a spaceship there are $2 \cdot N$ people, and each two of them are friends or foes (both relationships are symmetric). Two aliens play a game as follows: 1) The first alien chooses any person as she wishes. 2) Thenceforth, alternately, each alien chooses one person not chosen before such that the person chosen on each turn be a friend of the person chosen on the previous turn. 3) The alien that can't play in her turn loses. Prove that second player has a winning strategy [i]if, and only if[/i], the $2 \cdot N$ people can be divided in $N$ pairs in such a way that two people in the same pair are friends.

On a chessboard, Po controls a white queen and plays, in alternate turns, against an invisible black king (there are only those two pieces on the board). The king cannot move to a square where he would be in check, neither capture the queen. Every time the king makes a move, Po receives a message from beyond that tells which direction the king has moved (up, right, up-right, etc). His goal is to make the king unable to make a movement. Can Po reach his goal with at most $150$ moves, regardless the starting position of the pieces?

There are $2024$ mathematicians sitting in a row next to the river Tisza. Each of them is working on exactly one research topic, and if two mathematicians are working on the same topic, everyone sitting between them is also working on it. Marvin is trying to figure out for each pair of mathematicians whether they are working on the same topic. He is allowed to ask each mathematician the following question: “How many of these 2024 mathematicians are working on your topic?” He asks the questions one by one, so he knows all previous answers before he asks the next one. Determine the smallest positive integer $k$ such that Marvin can always accomplish his goal with at most $k$ questions.

Alice and Bob play the following game. They write some fractions of the form $1/n$, where $n{}$ is positive integer, onto the blackboard. The first move is made by Alice. Alice writes only one fraction in each her turn and Bob writes one fraction in his first turn, two fractions in his second turn, three fractions in his third turn and so on. Bob wants to make the sum of all the fractions on the board to be an integer number after some turn. Can Alice prevent this? [i]Andrey Arzhantsev[/i]

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]

Jacob and Laban take turns playing a game. Each of them starts with the list of square numbers $1, 4, 9, \dots, 2021^2$, and there is a whiteboard in front of them with the number $0$ on it. Jacob chooses a number $x^2$ from his list, removes it from his list, and replaces the number $W$ on the whiteboard with $W + x^2$. Laban then does the same with a number from his list, and the repeat back and forth until both of them have no more numbers in their list. Now every time that the number on the whiteboard is divisible by $4$ after a player has taken his turn, Jacob gets a sheep. Jacob wants to have as many sheep as possible. What is the greatest number $K$ such that Jacob can guarantee to get at least $K$ sheep by the end of the game, no matter how Laban plays?

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 \( n \) be a positive integer. A function \( f : \{0, 1, \dots, n\} \to \{0, 1, \dots, n\} \) is called \( n \)-Bolivian if it satisfies the following conditions: • \( f(0) = 0 \); • \( f(t) \in \{ t-1, f(t-1), f(f(t-1)), \dots \} \) for all \( t = 1, 2, \dots, n \). For example, if \( n = 3 \), then the function defined by \( f(0) = f(1) = 0 \), \( f(2) = f(3) = 1 \) is 3-Bolivian, but the function defined by \( f(0) = f(1) = f(2) = 0 \), \( f(3) = 1 \) is not 3-Bolivian. For a fixed positive integer \( n \), Gollum selects an \( n \)-Bolivian function. Smeagol, knowing that \( f \) is \( n \)-Bolivian, tries to figure out which function was chosen by asking questions of the type: \[ \text{How many integers } a \text{ are there such that } f(a) = b? \] given a \( b \) of his choice. Show that if Gollum always answers correctly, Smeagol can determine \( f \) and find the minimum number of questions he needs to ask, considering all possible choices of \( f \).

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]

(a) Two people perform a card trick. The first performer takes $5$ cards from a $52$-card deck (previously shuffled by a member of the audience) , looks at them, and arranges them in a row from left to right: one face down (not necessarily the first one) , the others face up . The second performer guesses correctly the card which is face down. Prove that the performers can agree on a system which always makes this possible. (b) For their second trick, the first performer arranges four cards in a row, face up, the fifth card is kept hidden. Can they still agree on a system which enables the second performer to correctly guess the hidden card? (G Galperin)

Let $n\geq 2$ be an integer. Alice and Bob play a game concerning a country made of $n$ islands. Exactly two of those $n$ islands have a factory. Initially there is no bridge in the country. Alice and Bob take turns in the following way. In each turn, the player must build a bridge between two different islands $I_1$ and $I_2$ such that: $\bullet$ $I_1$ and $I_2$ are not already connected by a bridge. $\bullet$ at least one of the two islands $I_1$ and $I_2$ is connected by a series of bridges to an island with a factory (or has a factory itself). (Indeed, access to a factory is needed for the construction.) As soon as a player builds a bridge that makes it possible to go from one factory to the other, this player loses the game. (Indeed, it triggers an industrial battle between both factories.) If Alice starts, then determine (for each $n\geq 2$) who has a winning strategy. ([i]Note:[/i] It is allowed to construct a bridge passing above another bridge.)