A square is divided into $25$ small squares. We draw diagonals of some of the small squares so that no two diagonals share a common point (not even a common endpoint). What is the largest possible number of diagonals that we can draw? (I Rubanov)

For $n$ an odd positive integer, the unit squares of an $n\times n$ chessboard are coloured alternately black and white, with the four corners coloured black. A it tromino is an $L$-shape formed by three connected unit squares. For which values of $n$ is it possible to cover all the black squares with non-overlapping trominos? When it is possible, what is the minimum number of trominos needed?

Consider a $1 \times n$ rectangle and some tiles of size $1 \times 1$ of four different colours. The rectangle is tiled in such a way that no two neighboring square tiles have the same colour. a) Find the number of distinct symmetrical tilings. b) Find the number of tilings such that any consecutive square tiles have distinct colours.

A set of identical square tiles with side length $1$ is placed on a (very large) floor. Every tile after the first shares an entire edge with at least one tile that has already been placed. - What is the largest possible perimeter for a figure made of $10$ tiles? - What is the smallest possible perimeter for a figure made of $10$ tiles? - What is the largest possible perimeter for a figure made of $2011$ tiles? - What is the smallest possible perimeter for a figure made of $2011$ tiles? Prove that your answers are correct.

The checkered plane (infinitely large house paper) is given. For which pairs (a,, b) one can color each of the squares with one of $a \cdot b$ colors, so that each rectangle of size $ a \times b$ or $b \times a$, placed appropriately in the checkered plane, always contains a unit square with each color ?

You are given a rectangular playing field of size $13 \times 2$ and any number of dominoes of sizes $2\times 1$ and $3\times 1$. The playing field should be seamless with such dominoes and without overlapping, with no domino protruding beyond the playing field may. Furthermore, all dominoes must be aligned in the same way, i. e. their long sides must be parallel to each other. How many such coverings are possible? (Walther Janous)

Pinocchio claims that he can take some non-right-angled triangles , all of which are similar to one another and some of which may be congruent to one another, and put them together to form a rectangle. Is Pinocchio lying? (A Fedotov)

A stromino is a $3 \times 1$ rectangle. Show that a $5 \times 5$ board divided into twenty-five $1 \times 1$ squares cannot be covered by $16$ strominos such that each stromino covers exactly three squares of the board, and every square is covered by one or two strominos. (A stromino can be placed either horizontally or vertically on the board.) [i]Proposed by Navilarekallu Tejaswi[/i]

A rectangular floor is covered by a certain number of equally large quadratic tiles. The tiles along the edge are red, and the rest are white. There are equally many red and white tiles. How many tiles can there be?

Toph wants to tile a rectangular $m\times n$ square grid with the $6$ types of tiles in the picture (moving the tiles is allowed, but rotating and reflecting is not). For which pairs $(m,n)$ is this possible?

A black unit equilateral triangle is drawn on the plane. How can we place nine tiles, each a unit equilateral triangle, on the plane so that they do not overlap, and each tile covers at least one interior point of the black triangle? (Folklore)

Determine for which values of $n$ it is possible to tile a square of side $n$ with figures of the type shown in the picture [asy] unitsize(0.4 cm); draw((0,0)--(5,0)); draw((0,1)--(5,1)); draw((1,2)--(4,2)); draw((2,3)--(3,3)); draw((0,0)--(0,1)); draw((1,0)--(1,2)); draw((2,0)--(2,3)); draw((3,0)--(3,3)); draw((4,0)--(4,2)); draw((5,0)--(5,1)); [/asy]

Rectangles $1\times20$, $1\times 19$, ..., $1\times 1$ were cut out of $20\times20$ table. Prove that from the remaining part of the table $36$ $1\times2$ dominos can be cut [I]Proposed by S. Berlov[/i]

In a $10$ by $10$ square grid (which we call “the bay”) you are requested to place ten “ships”: one $1$ by $4$ ship, two $1$ by $3$ ships, three $1$ by $2$ ships and four $1$ by $1$ ships. The ships may not have common points (even corners) but may touch the “shore” of the bay. Prove that (a) by placing the ships one after the other arbitrarily but in the order indicated above, it is always possible to complete the process; (b) by placing the ships in reverse order (beginning with the smaller ones), it is possible to reach a situation where the next ship cannot be placed (give an example). (KN Ignatjev)

A board of $6\times 6$ is totally covered by $18$ dominoes (of $2\times 1$), that is, there are no overlaps, gaps, and the tiles do not come off the board. Prove that, regardless of the arrangement of the tiles, there is always a line that divides the board into two non-empty parts, and without cutting tiles.

Infinitely many equidistant parallel lines are drawn in the plane. A positive integer $n \geqslant 3$ is called frameable if it is possible to draw a regular polygon with $n$ sides all whose vertices lie on these lines, and no line contains more than one vertex of the polygon. (a) Show that $3, 4, 6$ are frameable. (b) Show that any integer $n \geqslant 7$ is not frameable. (c) Determine whether $5$ is frameable. [i]Proposed by Muralidharan[/i]

For any triple $(a, b, c)$ of positive integers, not all equal, We are given sufficiently many rectangular blocks of size $a \times b \times c$. We use these blocks to fill up a cubic box of edge $10$. (a) Assume we have used at least $100$ blocks. Show that there are two blocks, one of which is a translate of the other. (b) Find a number smaller than $100$ (the smaller, the better) for which the above statement still holds.

We consider tilings of a rectangular $m \times n$-board with $1\times2$-tiles. The tiles can be placed either horizontally, or vertically, but they aren't allowed to overlap and to be placed partially outside of the board. All squares on theboard must be covered by a tile. (a) Prove that for every tiling of a $4 \times 2010$-board with $1\times2$-tiles there is a straight line cutting the board into two pieces such that every tile completely lies within one of the pieces. (b) Prove that there exists a tiling of a $5 \times  2010$-board with $1\times 2$-tiles such that there is no straight line cutting the board into two pieces such that every tile completely lies within one of the pieces.

How many dominoes can be placed on a at least $3 \times 12$ board, such so that it is impossible to place a $1\times 3$, $3 \times 1$, or $ 2 \times 2$ tile on what remains of the board? Clarification: Each domino covers exactly two squares on the board. The chips cannot overlap.

What is the smallest number of $3$-cell corners that you need to paint in a $5 \times5$ square so that you cannot paint more than one corner of one it? (Shaded corners should not overlap.)

For which positive integers $n$ is it possible to cover a $(2n+1) \times (2n+1)$ chessboard which has one of its corner squares cut out with tiles shown in the figure (each tile covers exactly $4$ squares, tiles can be rotated and turned around)? [img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/6/5/8fddeefc226ee0c02353a1fc11e48ce42d8436.png[/img]

For a positive integer $n$, we consider an $n \times n$ board and tiles with dimensions $1 \times 1, 1 \times 2, ..., 1 \times n$. In how many ways exactly can $\frac12 n (n + 1)$ cells of the board are colored red, so that the red squares can all be covered by placing the $n$ tiles all horizontally, but also by placing all $n$ tiles vertically? Two colorings that are not identical, but by rotation or reflection from the board into each other count as different.

Given are two positive integers $k$ and $n$ with $k \le n \le 2k - 1$. Julian has a large stack of rectangular $k \times 1$ tiles. Merlin calls a positive integer $m$ and receives $m$ tiles from Julian to place on an $n \times n$ board. Julian first writes on every tile whether it should be a horizontal or a vertical tile. Tiles may be used the board should not overlap or protrude. What is the largest number $m$ that Merlin can call if he wants to make sure that he has all tiles according to the rule of Julian can put on the plate?

Let $Z$ shape be a shape such that it covers $(i,j)$, $(i,j+1)$, $(i+1,j+1)$, $(i+2,j+1)$ and $(i+2,j+2)$ where $(i,j)$ stands for cell in $i$-th row and $j$-th column on an arbitrary table. At least how many $Z$ shapes is necessary to cover one $8 \times 8$ table if every cell of a $Z$ shape is either cell of a table or it is outside the table (two $Z$ shapes can overlap and $Z$ shapes can rotate)?

Given a positive integer $n$, an $n$-gun is a $2n$-mino that is formed by putting a $1 \times n$ grid and an $n \times 1$ grid side by side so that one of the corner unit squares of the first grid is next to one of the corner unit squares of the second grid. Find the minimum possible $k$ such that it is possible to color the infinite planar grid with $k$ colors such that any $n$-gun cannot cover two different squares with the same color. [i]Itf0501[/i]