Found problems: 304
Two pupils $A$ and $B$ play the following game. They begin with a pile of $1998$ matches and $A$ plays first. A player who is on turn must take a nonzero square number of matches from the pile. The winner is the one who makes the last move. Decide who has the winning strategy and give one such strategy.
Chris and Michael play a game on a board which is a rhombus of side length $n$ (a positive integer) consisting of two equilateral triangles, each of which has been divided into equilateral triangles of side length $ 1$. Each has a single token, initially on the leftmost and rightmost squares of the board, called the “home” squares (the illustration shows the case $n = 4$).
[img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/e/b/8135203c22ce77c03c144850099ad1c575edb8.png[/img]
A move consists of moving your token to an adjacent triangle (two triangles are adjacent only if they share a side). To win the game, you must either capture your opponent’s token (by moving to the triangle it occupies), or move on to your opponent’s home square.
Supposing that Chris moves first, which, if any, player has a winning strategy?
Ahmad and Salem play the following game. Ahmad writes two integers (not necessarily different) on a board. Salem writes their sum and product. Ahmad does the same thing: he writes the sum and product of the two numbers which Salem has just written.
They continue in this manner, not stopping unless the two players write the same two numbers one after the other (for then they are stuck!). The order of the two numbers which each player writes is not important.
Thus if Ahmad starts by writing $3$ and $-2$, the first five moves (or steps) are as shown:
(a) Step 1 (Ahmad) $3$ and $-2$
(b) Step 2 (Salem) $1$ and $-6$
(c) Step 3 (Ahmad) $-5$ and $-6$
(d) Step 4 (Salem) $-11$ and $30$
(e) Step 5 (Ahmad) $19$ and $-330$
(i) Describe all pairs of numbers that Ahmad could write, and ensure that Salem must write the same numbers, and so the game stops at step 2.
(ii) What pair of integers should Ahmad write so that the game finishes at step 4?
(iii) Describe all pairs of integers which Ahmad could write at step 1, so that the game will finish after finitely many steps.
(iv) Ahmad and Salem decide to change the game. The first player writes three numbers on the board, $u, v$ and $w$. The second player then writes the three numbers $u + v + w,uv + vw + wu$ and $uvw$, and they proceed as before, taking turns, and using this new rule describing how to work out the next three numbers. If Ahmad goes first, determine all collections of three numbers which he can write down, ensuring that Salem has to write the same three numbers at the next step.
A point in the cartesian plane with integer coordinates is called a lattice point. Consider the following one player game. A finite set of selected lattice points and finite set of selected segments is called a position in this game if the following hold:
(i) The endpoints of each selected segment are lattice points;
(ii) Each selected segment is parallel to a coordinate axis or to one of the lines $y = \pm x$,
(iii) Each selected segment contains exactly five lattice points, all of which are selected,
(iv) Every two selected segments have at most one common point.
A move in this game consists of selecting a lattice point and a segment such that the new set of selected lattice points and segments is a position. Prove or disprove that there exists an initial position such that the game can have infinitely many moves.
Ana and Natalia alternately play on a $ n \times n$ board (Ana rolls first and $n> 1$). At the beginning, Ana's token is placed in the upper left corner and Natalia's in the lower right corner. A turn consists of moving the corresponding piece in any of the four directions (it is not allowed to move diagonally), without leaving the board. The winner is whoever manages to place their token on the opponent's token. Determine if either of them can secure victory after a finite number of turns.
All the natural numbers from $1$ to $1982$ are gathered in an array in an arbitrary order in computer's memory. The program looks through all the sequent pairs (first and second, second and third,...) and exchanges numbers in the pair, if the number on the lower place is greater than another. Then the program repeats the process, but moves from another end of the array. The number, that stand initially on the $100$-th place reserved its place. Find that number.
(a) On each square of a squared sheet of paper of size $20 \times 20$ there is a soldier. Vanya chooses a number $d$ and Petya moves the soldiers to new squares in such a way that each soldier is moved through a distance of at least $d$ (the distance being measured between the centres of the initial and the new squares) and each square is occupied by exactly one soldier. For which $d$ is this possible?
(Give the maximum possible $d$, prove that it is possible to move the soldiers through distances not less than $d$ and prove that there is no greater $d$ for which this procedure may be carried out.)
(b) Answer the same question as (a), but with a sheet of size $21 \times 21$.
(SS Krotov, Moscow)
Two players, Agon and Besa, choose a number from the set $\{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8\}$, in turns, until no number is left. Then, each player sums all the numbers that he has chosen. We say that a player wins if the sum of his chosen numbers is a prime and the sum of the numbers that his opponent has chosen is composite. In the contrary, the game ends in a draw. Agon starts first. Does there exist a winning strategy for any of the players?
A game is played with two heaps of $p$ and $q$ stones. Two players alternate playing, with $A$ starting. A player in turn takes away one heap and divides the other heap into two smaller ones. A player who cannot perform a legal move loses the game. For which values of $p$ and $q$ can $A$ force a victory?
A circle is divided by $2019$ points into equal parts. Two players delete these points in turns. A player loses, if after his turn it is possible to draw a diameter of the circle such that there are no undeleted points on one side of it. Which player has a winning strategy?
Given a triangle $ABC$ with the unit area. The first player chooses a point $X$ on the side $[AB]$, than the second -- $Y$ on $[BC]$ side, and, finally, the first chooses a point $Z$ on $[AC]$ side. The first tries to obtain the greatest possible area of the $XYZ$ triangle, the second -- the smallest. What area can obtain the first for sure and how?
On the table there are $50$ stacks of coins that have $1,2,3,…,50$ coins respectively. Ana and Beto play the following game in turns:
First, Ana chooses one of the $50$ piles on the table, and Beto decides if that pile is for Ana or for him.
Then, Beto chooses one of the $49$ remaining piles on the table, and Ana decides if that pile is for her or for Beto.
They continue playing alternately in this way until one of the players has $25$ batteries.
When that happens, the other player takes all the remaining stacks on the table and whoever has the most coins wins.
Determine which of the two players has a winning strategy.
The Y2K Game is played on a $1 \times 2000$ grid as follows. Two players in turn write either an S or an O in an empty square. The first player who produces three consecutive boxes that spell SOS wins. If all boxes are filled without producing SOS then the game is a draw. Prove that the second player has a winning strategy.
A lottery ticket has $50$ cells into which one must put a permutation of $1, 2, 3, ... , 50$. Any ticket with at least one cell matching the winning permutation wins a prize. How many tickets are needed to be sure of winning a prize?
Ana and Beto play against each other. Initially, Ana chooses a non-negative integer $N$ and announces it to Beto. Next Beto writes a succession of $2016$ numbers, $1008$ of them equal to $1$ and $1008$ of them equal to $-1$. Once this is done, Ana must split the succession into several blocks of consecutive terms (each term belonging to exactly one block), and calculate the sum of the numbers of each block. Finally, add the squares of the calculated numbers. If this sum is equal to $N$, Ana wins. If not, Beto wins. Determine all values of $N$ for which Ana can ensure victory, no matter how Beto plays.
On a blackboard, there are $17$ integers not divisible by $17$. Alice and Bob play a game.
Alice starts and they alternately play the following moves:
$\bullet$ Alice chooses a number $a$ on the blackboard and replaces it with $a^2$
$\bullet$ Bob chooses a number $b$ on the blackboard and replaces it with $b^3$.
Alice wins if the sum of the numbers on the blackboard is a multiple of $17$ after a finite number of steps.
Prove that Alice has a winning strategy.
(Daniel Holmes)
Given two natural numbers $a < b$, Xavier and Ze play the following game. First, Xavier writes $a$ consecutive numbers of his choice; then, repeat some of them, also of his choice, until he has $b$ numbers, with the condition that the sum of the $b$ numbers written is an even number. Ze wins the game if he manages to separate the numbers into two groups with the same amount. Otherwise, Xavier wins. For example, for $a = 4$ and $b = 7$, if Xavier wrote the numbers $3,4,5,6,3,3,4$, Ze could win, separating these numbers into groups $3,3 ,4,4$ and $3,5,6$. For what values of $a$ and $b$ can Xavier guarantee victory?
Ward and Gabrielle are playing a game on a large sheet of paper. At the start of the game, there are $999$ ones on the sheet of paper. Ward and Gabrielle each take turns alternatingly, and Ward has the first turn.
During their turn, a player must pick two numbers a and b on the sheet such that $gcd(a, b) = 1$, erase these numbers from the sheet, and write the number $a + b$ on the sheet. The first player who is not able to do so, loses.
Determine which player can always win this game.
Given a board $3\times3$ and $9$ cards with some numbers (known to the players). Two players, in turn, put those cards on the board. The first wins if the sum of the numbers in the first and the third row is greater than in the first and the third column. Prove that it doesn't matter what numbers are on the cards, but if the first plays the best way, the second can not win.
Jesse and Tjeerd are playing a game. Jesse has access to $n\ge 2$ stones. There are two boxes: in the black box there is room for half of the stones (rounded down) and in the white box there is room for half of the stones (rounded up). Jesse and Tjeerd take turns, with Jesse starting. Jesse grabs in his turn, always one new stone, writes a positive real number on the stone and places put him in one of the boxes that isn't full yet. Tjeerd sees all these numbers on the stones in the boxes and on his turn may move any stone from one box to the other box if it is not yet full, but he may also choose to do nothing. The game stops when both boxes are full. If then the total value of the stones in the black box is greater than the total value of the stones in the white box, Jesse wins; otherwise win Tjeerd. For every $n \ge 2$, determine who can definitely win (and give a corresponding winning strategy).
The game [i]Clobber [/i] is played by two on a strip of $2k$ squares. At the beginning there is a piece on each square, the pieces of both players stand alternatingly. At each move the player shifts one of his pieces to the neighbouring square that holds a piece of his opponent and removes his opponent’s piece from the table. The moves are made in turn, the player whose opponent cannot move anymore is the winner.
Prove that if for some $k$ the player who does not start the game has the winning strategy, then for $k + 1$ and $k + 2$ the player who makes the first move has the winning strategy.
The King decided to reduce his Council consisting of thousand wizards. He placed them in a line and placed hats with numbers from $1$ to $1001$ on their heads not necessarily in this order (one hat was hidden). Each wizard can see the numbers on the hats of all those before him but not on himself or on anyone who stayed behind him. By King's command, starting from the end of the line each wizard calls one integer from $1$ to $1001$ so that every wizard in the line can hear it. No number can be repeated twice.
In the end each wizard who fails to call the number on his hat is removed from the Council. The wizards knew the conditions of testing and could work out their strategy prior to it.
(a) Can the wizards work out a strategy which guarantees that more than $500$ of them remain in the Council?
(b) Can the wizards work out a strategy which guarantees that at least $999$ of them remain in the Council?
We have a regular polygon $P$ with 2019 vertices, and in each vertex there is a coin. Two players [i]Azul[/i] and [i]Rojo[/i] take turns alternately, beginning with Azul, in the following way: first, Azul chooses a triangle with vertices in $P$ and colors its interior with blue, then Rojo selects a triangle with vertices in $P$ and colors its interior with red, so that the triangles formed in each move don't intersect internally the previous colored triangles. They continue playing until it's not possible to choose another triangle to be colored. Then, a player wins the coin of a vertex if he colored the greater quantity of triangles incident to that vertex (if the quantities of triangles colored with blue or red incident to the vertex are the same, then no one wins that coin and the coin is deleted). The player with the greater quantity of coins wins the game. Find a winning strategy for one of the players.
[i]Note.[/i] Two triangles can share vertices or sides.
Wiebke and Stefan play the following game on a rectangular sheet of paper. They start with a rectangle with $60$ rows and $40$ columns and cut it in turns into smaller rectangles. The cuttings must be made along the gridlines, and a player in turn may cut only one smaller rectangle. By that, Stefan makes only vertical cuts, while Wiebke makes only horizontal cuts. A player who cannot make a regular move loses the game.
(a) Who has a winning strategy if Stefan makes the first move?
(b) Who has a winning strategy if Wiebke makes the first move?
A 2-player game is played on $n\geq 3$ points, where no 3 points are collinear. Each move consists of selecting 2 of the points and drawing a new line segment connecting them. The first player to draw a line segment that creates an odd cycle loses. (An odd cycle must have all its vertices among the $n$ points from the start, so the vertices of the cycle cannot be the intersections of the lines drawn.) Find all $n$ such that the player to move first wins.