There are $n \geq 3$ islands in a city. Initially, the ferry company offers some routes between some pairs of islands so that it is impossible to divide the islands into two groups such that no two islands in different groups are connected by a ferry route. After each year, the ferry company will close a ferry route between some two islands $X$ and $Y$. At the same time, in order to maintain its service, the company will open new routes according to the following rule: for any island which is connected to a ferry route to exactly one of $X$ and $Y$, a new route between this island and the other of $X$ and $Y$ is added. Suppose at any moment, if we partition all islands into two nonempty groups in any way, then it is known that the ferry company will close a certain route connecting two islands from the two groups after some years. Prove that after some years there will be an island which is connected to all other islands by ferry routes.

Let $n\geq 2$ be an integer. Let us call [i]interval[/i] a subset $A \subseteq \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ for which integers $1\leq a < b\leq n$ do exist, such that $A = \{a,a+1,\ldots,b-1,b\}$. Let a family $\mathcal{A}$ of subsets $A_i \subseteq \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$, with $1\leq i \leq N$, be such that for any $1\leq i < j \leq N$ we have $A_i \cap A_j$ being an interval. Prove that $\displaystyle N \leq \left \lfloor n^2/4 \right \rfloor$, and that this bound is sharp. (Dan Schwarz - after an idea by Ron Graham)

Let $G$ be a planar graph, which is also bipartite. Is it always possible to assign a vertex to each face of the graph such that no two faces have the same vertex assigned to them? [i]Submitted by Dávid Matolcsi, Budapest[/i]

Let $n$ be a positive integer. There is a pawn in one of the cells of an $n\times n$ table. The pawn moves from an arbitrary cell of the $k$th column, $k \in \{1,2, \cdots, n \}$, to an arbitrary cell in the $k$th row. Prove that there exists a sequence of $n^{2}$ moves such that the pawn goes through every cell of the table and finishes in the starting cell.

Let $n \geq 3$ be an integer. At a MEMO-like competition, there are $3n$ participants, there are n languages spoken, and each participant speaks exactly three different languages. Prove that at least $\left\lceil\frac{2n}{9}\right\rceil$ of the spoken languages can be chosen in such a way that no participant speaks more than two of the chosen languages. [b]Note.[/b] $\lceil x\rceil$ is the smallest integer which is greater than or equal to $x$.

Suppose that the minimum degree δ(G) of a simple graph G with n vertices is at least 3n / 4. Prove that in any 2-coloring of the edges of G , there is a connected subgraph with at least δ(G) +1 points, all edges of which are of the same color.

Given seven points on a plane, with no three points collinear. Prove that it is always possible to divide these points into the vertices of a triangle and a convex quadrilateral, with no shared parts between the two shapes.

In a certain country there are $n$ cities. Some pairs of cities are connected by highways in such a way that for each two cities there is at most one highway connecting them. Assume that for a certain positive integer $k$, the total number of highways is greater than $\frac{nk}{2}$. Show that there exist $k+2$ distinct cities $C_1, C_2, \dots, C_{k+2}$ such that $C_i$ and $C_{i+1}$ are connected by a highway for $i=1, 2, \dots, k+1$. [i]Proposed by Oriol Solé[/i]

From a collection of $n$ persons $q$ distinct two-member teams are selected and ranked $1, \cdots, q$ (no ties). Let $m$ be the least integer larger than or equal to $2q/n$. Show that there are $m$ distinct teams that may be listed so that : [b](i)[/b] each pair of consecutive teams on the list have one member in common and [b](ii)[/b] the chain of teams on the list are in rank order. [i]Alternative formulation.[/i] Given a graph with $n$ vertices and $q$ edges numbered $1, \cdots , q$, show that there exists a chain of $m$ edges, $m \geq \frac{2q}{n}$ , each two consecutive edges having a common vertex, arranged monotonically with respect to the numbering.

For a competition a school wants to nominate a team of $k$ students, where $k$ is a given positive integer. Each member of the team has to compete in the three disciplines juggling, singing and mental arithmetic. To qualify for the team, the $n \ge 2$ students of the school compete in qualifying competitions, determining a unique ranking in each of the three disciplines. The school now wants to nominate a team satisfying the following condition: $(*)$ [i]If a student $X$ is not nominated for the team, there is a student $Y$ on the team who defeated $X$ in at least two disciplines.[/i] Determine all positive integers $n \ge 2$ such that for any combination of rankings, a team can be chosen to satisfy the condition $(*)$, when a) $k=2$, b) $k=3$.

Let $N$ be the number of ways to draw 22 straight edges between 10 labeled points, of which no three are collinear, such that no triangle with vertices among these 10 points is created, and there is at most one edge between any two labeled points. Compute $\dfrac{N}{9!}$.

Let $P_1, P_2, \dots, P_n$ be points on the plane. There is an edge between distinct points $P_x, P_y$ if and only if $x \mid y$. Find the largest $n$, such that the graph can be drawn with no crossing edges.

In a party, there are $2n + 1$ people. It's well known that for every group of $n$ people, there exist a person(out of the group) who knows all them(the $n$ people of the group). Show that there exist a person who knows all the people in the party.

A graph is called 2-connected if after removing any vertex the remaining graph is still connected. Prove that for any 2-connected graph with degrees more than two, one can remove a vertex so that the remaining graph is still 2-connected.

Seventeen people correspond by mail with one another-each one with all the rest. In their letters only three different topics are discussed. each pair of correspondents deals with only one of these topics. Prove that there are at least three people who write to each other about the same topic.

An international society has its members from six different countries. The list of members contain $1978$ names, numbered $1, 2, \dots, 1978$. Prove that there is at least one member whose number is the sum of the numbers of two members from his own country, or twice as large as the number of one member from his own country.

Given is a $K_{2024}$ in which every edge has weight $1$ or $2$. If every cycle has even total weight, find the minimal value of the sum of all weights in the graph.

Let $n\geqslant 2$ be a positive integer. Paul has a $1\times n^2$ rectangular strip consisting of $n^2$ unit squares, where the $i^{\text{th}}$ square is labelled with $i$ for all $1\leqslant i\leqslant n^2$. He wishes to cut the strip into several pieces, where each piece consists of a number of consecutive unit squares, and then [i]translate[/i] (without rotating or flipping) the pieces to obtain an $n\times n$ square satisfying the following property: if the unit square in the $i^{\text{th}}$ row and $j^{\text{th}}$ column is labelled with $a_{ij}$, then $a_{ij}-(i+j-1)$ is divisible by $n$. Determine the smallest number of pieces Paul needs to make in order to accomplish this.

A finite graph $G(V,E)$ on $n$ points is drawn in the plane. For an edge $e$ of the graph, let $\chi(e)$ denote the number of edges that cross over edge $e$. Prove that \[\sum_{e\in E}\frac{1}{\chi(e)+1}\leq 3n-6.\][i]Proposed by Dömötör Pálvölgyi, Budapest[/i]

In a school, every pair of students are either friends or strangers. Friendship is mutual, and no student is friends with themselves. A sequence of (not necessarily distinct) students $A_1, A_2, \dots, A_{2023}$ is called [i]mischievous[/i] if $\bullet$ Total number of friends of $A_1$ is odd. $\bullet$ $A_i$ and $A_{i+1}$ are friends for $i=1, 2, \dots, 2022$. $\bullet$ Total number of friends of $A_{2023}$ is even. Prove that the total number of [i]mischievous[/i] sequences is even.

Let $m$ and $n$ be positive integers. For a connected simple graph $G$ on $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, we consider the number $N(G)$ of orientations of (all of) its edges so that, in the resulting directed graph, every vertex has even outdegree. Show that $N(G)$ only depends on $m$ and $n$, and determine its value.

Unless of isomorphisms, how many simple four-vertex graphs are there?

We have a bipartite graph $G$ (with parts $X$ and $Y$). We orient each edge arbitrarily. [i]Hessam[/i] chooses a vertex at each turn and reverse the orientation of all edges that $v$ is one of their endpoint. Prove that with these steps we can reach to a graph that for each vertex $v$ in part $X$, $\deg^{+}(v)\geq \deg^{-}(v)$ and for each vertex in part $Y$, $\deg^{+}v\leq \deg^{-}v$

There are $2022$ users on a social network called Mathbook, and some of them are Mathbook-friends. (On Mathbook, friendship is always mutual and permanent.) Starting now, Mathbook will only allow a new friendship to be formed between two users if they have [i]at least two[/i] friends in common. What is the minimum number of friendships that must already exist so that every user could eventually become friends with every other user?

Let $n$ and $k$ be positive integers, with $n\geq k+1$. There are $n$ countries on a planet, with some pairs of countries establishing diplomatic relations between them, such that each country has diplomatic relations with at least $k$ other countries. An evil villain wants to divide the countries, so he executes the following plan: (1) First, he selects two countries $A$ and $B$, and let them lead two allies, $\mathcal{A}$ and $\mathcal{B}$, respectively (so that $A\in \mathcal{A}$ and $B\in\mathcal{B}$). (2) Each other country individually decides wether it wants to join ally $\mathcal{A}$ or $\mathcal{B}$. (3) After all countries made their decisions, for any two countries with $X\in\mathcal{A}$ and $Y\in\mathcal{B}$, eliminate any diplomatic relations between them. Prove that, regardless of the initial diplomatic relations among the countries, the villain can always select two countries $A$ and $B$ so that, no matter how the countries choose their allies, there are at least $k$ diplomatic relations eliminated. [i]Proposed by YaWNeeT.[/i]