Let $k > 1, n > 2018$ be positive integers, and let $n$ be odd. The nonzero rational numbers $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$ are not all equal and satisfy $$x_1+\frac{k}{x_2}=x_2+\frac{k}{x_3}=x_3+\frac{k}{x_4}=\ldots=x_{n-1}+\frac{k}{x_n}=x_n+\frac{k}{x_1}$$ Find: a) the product $x_1 x_2 \ldots x_n$ as a function of $k$ and $n$ b) the least value of $k$, such that there exist $n,x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$ satisfying the given conditions.

Consider sequences $a_1, a_2, a_3,...$ of positive integers. Determine the smallest possible value of $a_{2010}$ if (i) $a_n < a_{n+1}$ for all $n\ge 1$, (ii) $a_i + a_l > a_j + a_k$ for all quadruples $ (i, j, k, l)$ which satisfy $1 \le i < j \le k < l$.

What is the least possible number of the checkers being required a) for the $8\times 8$ chess-board, b) for the $n\times n$ chess-board, to provide the property: [i]Every line (of the chess-board fields) parallel to the side or diagonal is occupied by at least one checker[/i] ?

[b]a)[/b] Show that the expression $ x^3-5x^2+8x-4 $ is nonegative, for every $ x\in [1,\infty ) . $ [b]b)[/b] Determine $ \min_{a,b\in [1,\infty )} \left( ab(a+b-10) +8(a+b) \right) . $

The cells of a $8 \times 8$ table are initially white. Alice and Bob play a game. First Alice paints $n$ of the fields in red. Then Bob chooses $4$ rows and $4$ columns from the table and paints all fields in them in black. Alice wins if there is at least one red field left. Find the least value of $n$ such that Alice can win the game no matter how Bob plays.

Given a piece of graph paper with a letter assigned to each vertex of every square such that on every segment connecting two vertices that have the same letter and are on the same line of the mesh, there is at least one vertex with another letter. What is the least number of distinct letters needed to plot such a picture, along the sides of the cells?

Let $n$ a positive integer and let $x_1, \ldots, x_n, y_1, \ldots, y_n$ real positive numbers such that $x_1+\ldots+x_n=y_1+\ldots+y_n=1$. Prove that: $$|x_1-y_1|+\ldots+|x_n-y_n|\leq 2-\underset{1\leq i\leq n}{min} \;\dfrac{x_i}{y_i}-\underset{1\leq i\leq n}{min} \;\dfrac{y_i}{x_i}$$

Given is a regular polygon. Volodya wants to mark $k$ points on its perimeter so that any another regular polygon (maybe having a different number of sides) doesn’t contain all marked points on its perimeter. Find the minimal $k$ sufficient for any given polygon.

Find minimal value of $A=\frac{\left(x+\frac{1}{x}\right)^6-\left(x^6+\frac{1}{x^6}\right)-2}{\left(x+\frac{1}{x}\right)^3+\left(x^3+\frac{1}{x^3}\right)}$

A cinema has its seats arranged in $n$ rows $\times m$ columns. It sold mn tickets but sold some seats more than once. The usher managed to allocate seats so that every ticket holder was in the correct row or column. Show that he could have allocated seats so that every ticket holder was in the correct row or column and at least one person was in the correct seat. What is the maximum $k$ such that he could have always put every ticket holder in the correct row or column and at least $k$ people in the correct seat?

Let $n,k$, $1\le k\le n$ be fixed integers. Alice has $n$ cards in a row, where the card has position $i$ has the label $i+k$ (or $i+k-n$ if $i+k>n$). Alice starts by colouring each card either red or blue. Afterwards, she is allowed to make several moves, where each move consists of choosing two cards of different colours and swapping them. Find the minimum number of moves she has to make (given that she chooses the colouring optimally) to put the cards in order (i.e. card $i$ is at position $i$). NOTE: edited from original phrasing, which was ambiguous.

Let $x_1, x_2, ..., x_n$ be positive reals with sum $1$. Show that $$\frac{x_1^2}{x_1 + x_2}+ \frac{x_2^2}{x_2 + x_3} +... + \frac{x_{n-1}^2}{x_{n-1} + x_n} + \frac{x_n^2}{x_n + x_1} \ge \frac12$$

Suppose we have two identical cardboard polygons. We placed one polygon upon the other one and aligned. Then we pierced polygons with a pin at a point. Then we turned one of the polygons around this pin by $25^o 30'$. It turned out that the polygons coincided (aligned again). What is the minimal possible number of sides of the polygons?

Two players play alternately. The first player is given a pair of positive integers $(x_1, y_1)$. Each player must replace the pair $(x_n, y_n)$ that he is given by a pair of non-negative integers $(x_{n+1}, y_{n+1})$ such that $x_{n+1} = min(x_n, y_n)$ and $y_{n+1} = max(x_n, y_n)- k\cdot x_{n+1}$ for some positive integer $k$. The first player to pass on a pair with $y_{n+1} = 0$ wins. Find for which values of $x_1/y_1$ the first player has a winning strategy.

Points $A_1,A_2,...,A_n$ are selected from the equilateral triangle with a side that is equal to $1$. Denote by $d_k$ the least distance from $A_k$ to all other selected points. Prove that $d_1^2+...+d_n^2 \le 3,5$.

What is the smallest possible value of $x^2 + y^2 - x -y - xy$?

At a time $t = 0$, a navy ship is at a point $O$, while an enemy ship is at a point $A$ cruising with speed $v$ perpendicular to $OA = a$. The speed and direction of the enemy ship do not change. The strategy of the navy ship is to travel with constant speed $u$ at a angle $0 < \phi < \pi /2$ to the line $OA$. 1) Let $\phi$ be chosen. What is the minimum distance between the two ships? Under what conditions will the distance vanish? 2) If the distance does not vanish, what is the choice of $\phi$ to minimize the distance? What are directions of the two ships when their distance is minimum?

Determine the smallest number $n \in Z_+$, which can be written as $n = \Sigma_{a\in A}a^2$, where $A$ is a finite set of positive integers and $\Sigma_{a\in A}a= 2014$. In other words: what is the smallest positive number which can be written as a sum of squares of different positive integers summing to $2014$?

A rectangle is divided into $n^2$ smaller rectangle by $n - 1$ horizontal lines and $n - 1$ vertical lines. Between those rectangles there are exactly $5660$ which are not congruent. For what minimum value of $n$ is this possible?

The planes $p$ and $p'$ are parallel. A polygon $P$ on $p$ has $m$ sides and a polygon $P'$ on $p'$ has $n$ sides. Find the largest and smallest distances between a vertex of $P$ and a vertex of $P'$.

Two grasshoppers sit at opposite ends of the interval $[0, 1]$. A finite number of points (greater than zero) in the interval are marked. A move is for a grasshopper to select a marked point and jump over it to the equidistant point the other side. This point must lie in the interval for the move to be allowed, but it does not have to be marked. What is the smallest $n$ such that if each grasshopper makes $n$ moves or less, then they end up with no marked points between them?

In a country with $n$ towns, all the direct flights are of double destinations (back and forth). There are $r>2014$ rootes between different pairs of towns, that include no more than one intermediate stop (direction of each root matters). Find the minimum possible value of $n$ and the minimum possible $r$ for that value of $n$.

As you know, the moon revolves around the earth. We assume that the Earth and the Moon are points, and the Moon rotates around the Earth in a circular orbit with a period of one revolution per month. The flying saucer is in the plane of the lunar orbit. It can be jumped through the Moon and the Earth - from the old place (point $A$), it instantly appears in the new (at point $A '$) so that either the Moon or the Earth is in the middle of segment $AA'$. Between the jumps, the flying saucer hangs motionless in outer space. 1) Determine the minimum number of jumps a flying saucer will need to jump from any point inside the lunar orbit to any other point inside the lunar orbit. 2) Prove that a flying saucer, using an unlimited number of jumps, can jump from any point inside the lunar orbit to any other point inside the lunar orbit for any period of time, for example, in a second.

What is the minimal value of $\frac{b}{c + d} + \frac{c}{a + b}$ for positive real numbers $b$ and $c$ and non-negative real numbers $a$ and $d$ such that $b + c\ge a + d$?

A square is subdivided into $K^2$ equal smaller squares. We are given a broken line which passes through the centres of all the smaller squares (such a broken line may intersect itself). Find the minimum number of links in this broken line. (A Andjans, Riga)