Let $n$ be an even positive integer. We say that two different cells of a $n \times n$ board are [b]neighboring[/b] if they have a common side. Find the minimal number of cells on the $n \times n$ board that must be marked so that any cell (marked or not marked) has a marked neighboring cell.

Determine all ordered pairs $(a,p)$ of positive integers, with $p$ prime, such that $p^a+a^4$ is a perfect square. [i]Proposed by Tahjib Hossain Khan, Bangladesh[/i]

Pasha and Vova play the following game, making moves in turn; Pasha moves first. Initially, they have a large piece of plasticine. By a move, Pasha cuts one of the existing pieces into three(of arbitrary sizes), and Vova merges two existing pieces into one. Pasha wins if at some point there appear to be $100$ pieces of equal weights. Can Vova prevent Pasha's win?

Suppose that $(a_1,b_1),$ $(a_2,b_2),$ $\dots,$ $(a_{100},b_{100})$ are distinct ordered pairs of nonnegative integers. Let $N$ denote the number of pairs of integers $(i,j)$ satisfying $1\leq i<j\leq 100$ and $|a_ib_j-a_jb_i|=1$. Determine the largest possible value of $N$ over all possible choices of the $100$ ordered pairs. [i]Proposed by Ankan Bhattacharya[/i]

Let $\mathbb R$ be the set of real numbers. We denote by $\mathcal F$ the set of all functions $f\colon\mathbb R\to\mathbb R$ such that $$f(x + f(y)) = f(x) + f(y)$$ for every $x,y\in\mathbb R$ Find all rational numbers $q$ such that for every function $f\in\mathcal F$, there exists some $z\in\mathbb R$ satisfying $f(z)=qz$.

For any odd prime $p$ and any integer $n,$ let $d_p (n) \in \{ 0,1, \dots, p-1 \}$ denote the remainder when $n$ is divided by $p.$ We say that $(a_0, a_1, a_2, \dots)$ is a [i]p-sequence[/i], if $a_0$ is a positive integer coprime to $p,$ and $a_{n+1} =a_n + d_p (a_n)$ for $n \geqslant 0.$ (a) Do there exist infinitely many primes $p$ for which there exist $p$-sequences $(a_0, a_1, a_2, \dots)$ and $(b_0, b_1, b_2, \dots)$ such that $a_n >b_n$ for infinitely many $n,$ and $b_n > a_n$ for infinitely many $n?$ (b) Do there exist infinitely many primes $p$ for which there exist $p$-sequences $(a_0, a_1, a_2, \dots)$ and $(b_0, b_1, b_2, \dots)$ such that $a_0 <b_0,$ but $a_n >b_n$ for all $n \geqslant 1?$ [I]United Kingdom[/i]

Find all functions $f: (0, \infty) \to (0, \infty)$ such that \begin{align*} f(y(f(x))^3 + x) = x^3f(y) + f(x) \end{align*} for all $x, y>0$. [i]Proposed by Jason Prodromidis, Greece[/i]

Prove it is possible to find $2^{2021}$ different pairs of positive integers $(a_i,b_i)$ such that: $$ \frac{1}{a_ib_i}+\frac{1}{a_2b_2} + \ldots + \frac{1}{a_{2^{2021}}b_{2^{2021}}} = 1 $$ $$ a_1+a_2 +\ldots a_{2^{2021}} +b_1+b_2 + \ldots +b_{2^{2021}} = 3^{2022} $$ [b]Note: [/b]Pairs $(a,b)$ and $(c,d)$ are different if $a \neq c$ or $b \neq d$

Let $c \ge 1$ be a real number. Let $G$ be an Abelian group and let $A \subset G$ be a finite set satisfying $|A+A| \le c|A|$, where $X+Y:= \{x+y| x \in X, y \in Y\}$ and $|Z|$ denotes the cardinality of $Z$. Prove that \[|\underbrace{A+A+\dots+A}_k| \le c^k |A|\] for every positive integer $k$. [i]Proposed by Przemyslaw Mazur, Jagiellonian University.[/i]

Let $\mathbb{R}$ be the set of real numbers. Find all functions $f : \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ that satisfy the following condition. Here, $f^{100}(x)$ is the function obtained by composing $f(x)$ $100$ times, that is, $(\underbrace{f \circ f \circ \cdots \circ f}_{100 \ \text{times}})(x).$ [b](Condition)[/b] For all $x, y \in \mathbb{R}$, $$f(x + f^{100}(y)) = x + y \ \ \ \text{or} \ \ \ f(f^{100}(x) + y) = x + y$$

Sir Alex plays the following game on a row of 9 cells. Initially, all cells are empty. In each move, Sir Alex is allowed to perform exactly one of the following two operations: [list=1] [*] Choose any number of the form $2^j$, where $j$ is a non-negative integer, and put it into an empty cell. [*] Choose two (not necessarily adjacent) cells with the same number in them; denote that number by $2^j$. Replace the number in one of the cells with $2^{j+1}$ and erase the number in the other cell. [/list] At the end of the game, one cell contains $2^n$, where $n$ is a given positive integer, while the other cells are empty. Determine the maximum number of moves that Sir Alex could have made, in terms of $n$. [i]Proposed by Warut Suksompong, Thailand[/i]

Let $x_0,\dots,x_{2017}$ are positive integers and $x_{2017}\geq\dots\geq x_0=1$ such that $A=\{x_1,\dots,x_{2017}\}$ consists of exactly $25$ different numbers. Prove that $\sum_{i=2}^{2017}(x_i-x_{i-2})x_i\geq 623$, and find the number of sequences that holds the case of equality.

Let $\phi(n)$ be the number of positive integers less than $n$ that are relatively prime to $n$, where $n$ is a positive integer. Find all pairs of positive integers $(m,n)$ such that \[2^n + (n-\phi(n)-1)! = n^m+1.\]

There are $2019$ coins on a table. Some are placed with head up and others tail up. A group of $2019$ persons perform the following operations: the first person chooses any one coin and then turns it over, the second person choses any two coins and turns them over and so on and the $2019$-th person turns over all the coins. Prove that no matter which sides the coins are up initially, the $2019$ persons can come up with a procedure for turning the coins such that all the coins have smae side up at the end of the operations.