Found problems: 117
Let $n$ $\geq$ $2$ and $k$ $\geq$ $2$ be positive integers. A cat and a mouse are playing [i]Wim[/i], which is a stone removal game. The game starts with $n$ stones and they take turns removing stones, with the cat going first. On each turn they are allowed to remove $1$, $2$, $\dotsb$, or $k$ stones, and the player who cannot remove any stones on their turn loses. \\\\ A raccoon finds Wim very boring and creates [i]Wim 2[/i], which is Wim but with the following additional rule: [i]You cannot remove the same number of stones that your opponent removed on the previous turn[/i]. \\\\Find all values of $k$ such that for every $n$, the cat has a winning strategy in Wim if and only if it has a winning strategy in Wim 2.
Rodolfo and Gabriela have $9$ chips numbered from $1$ to $9$ and they have fun with the following game: They remove the chips one by one and alternately (until they have $3$ chips each), with the following rules:
$\bullet$ Rodolfo begins the game, choosing a chip and in the following moves he must remove, each time, a chip three units greater than the last chip drawn by Gabriela.
$\bullet$ Gabriela, on her turn, chooses a first chip and in the following times she must draw, each time, a chip two units smaller than the last chip that she herself drew.
$\bullet$ The game is won by whoever gets the highest number by adding up their three tokens.
$\bullet$ If the game cannot be completed, a tie is declared.
If they play without making mistakes, how should Rodolfo play to be sure he doesn't lose?
Amber and Brian are playing a game using $2010$ coins. Throughout the game, the coins are divided into a number of piles of at least 1 coin each. A move consists of choosing one or more piles and dividing each of them into two smaller piles. (So piles consisting of only $1$ coin cannot be chosen.)
Initially, there is only one pile containing all $2010$ coins. Amber and Brian alternatingly take turns to make a move, starting with Amber. The winner is the one achieving the situation where all piles have only one coin.
Show that Amber can win the game, no matter which moves Brian makes.
The number $1234567890$ is written on the blackboard. Two players $A$ and $B$ play the following game taking alternate moves. In one move, a player erases the number which is written on the blackboard, say, $m$, subtracts from $m$ any positive integer not exceeding the sum of the digits of $m$ and writes the obtained result instead of $m$. The first player who reduces the number written on the blackboard to $0$ wins. Determine which of the players has the winning strategy if the player $A$ makes the first move.
For positive integers $t,a$, and $b$, Lucy and Windy play the $(t,a,b)$- [i]game [/i] defined by the following rules. Initially, the number $t$ is written on a blackboard. On her turn, a player erases the number on the board and writes either the number $t - a$ or $t - b$ on the board. Lucy goes first and then the players alternate. The player who first reaches a negative losses the game. Prove that there exist infinitely many values of $t$ in which Lucy has a winning strategy for all pairs $(a, b)$ with $a + b = 2005$.
Let $n$ be an even integer greater than $2$. On the vertices of a regular polygon with n sides we can place red or blue chips. Two players, $A$ and $B$, play alternating turns of the next mode: each player, on their turn, chooses two vertices that have no tiles and places on one of them a red chip and in the other a blue chip. The goal of $A$ is to get three vertices consecutive with tiles of the same color. $B$'s goal is to prevent this from happening. To the beginning of the game there are no tiles in any of the vertices. Show that regardless of who starts to play, Player $B$ can always achieve his goal.
Let $n$ be a positive integer and $M = \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6\}$. Two persons $A$ and $B$ play in the following Way: $A$ writes down a digit from $M$, $B$ appends a digit from $M$, and so it becomes alternately one digit from $M$ is appended until the $2n$-digit decimal representation of a number has been created. If this number is divisible by $9$, $B$ wins, otherwise $A$ wins.
For which $n$ can $A$ and for which $n$ can $B$ force the win?
Let $n> 1$ be an odd integer. On a square surface have been placed $n^2 - 1$ white slabs and a black slab on the center. Two workers $A$ and $B$ take turns removing them, betting that whoever removes black will lose. First
$A$ picks a slab; if it has row number $i \ge (n + 1) / 2$, then it will remove all tiles from rows with number
greater than or equal to$ i$, while if $i <(n + 1) / 2$, then it will remove all tiles from the rows with lesser number
or equal to $i$. Proceed in a similar way with columns. Then $B$ chooses one of the remaining tiles and repeats the
process. Determine who has a winning strategy and describe it.
Note: Row and column numbering is ascending from top to bottom and from left to right.
There are seven piles with $2014$ pebbles each and a pile with $2008$ pebbles. Ana and Beto play in turns and Ana always plays first. One move consists of removing pebbles from all the piles. From each pile is removed a different amount of pebbles, between $1$ and $8$ pebbles. The first player who cannot make a move loses.
a) Who has a winning strategy?
b) If there were seven piles with $2015$ pebbles each and a pile with $2008$ pebbles, who has a winning strategy?
There is a $2021 \times 2023$ board that has a white piece in the central square, on which Mich and Moka are going to play in turns. First Mich places a green token on any free space so that it is not in the same row or column as the white token, then Moka places a red token on any free space so that it is not in the same row or column as the white token. white or green. From now on, Mich will place green tokens and Moka will place red tokens alternately according to the following rules:
$\bullet$ For the placed piece there must be another piece of the same color in its row or column, such that there is no other piece between both pieces.
$\bullet$ If there is at least one box that meets the previous rule, then it is mandatory to place a token.
When a token is placed, it changes all the tokens that are on squares adjacent to it to the same color. The game ends when one of the players can no longer place tiles. If when the game ends the board has more green tiles then Mich wins, and if it has more red tiles then Moka wins.
Determine if either player has a winning strategy.
Albert and Barbara play the following game. On a table there are $1999$ sticks, and each player in turn removes some of them: at least one stick, but at most half of the currently remaining sticks. The player who leaves just one stick on the table loses the game. Barbara moves first. Decide which player has a winning strategy and describe that strategy.
Let $n\ge 3$ be an integer. Lucas and Matías play a game in a regular $n$-sided polygon with a vertex marked as a trap. Initially Matías places a token at one vertex of the polygon. In each step, Lucas says a positive integer and Matías moves the token that number of vertices clockwise or counterclockwise, at his choice.
a) Determine all the $n\ge 3$ such that Matías can locate the token and move it in such a way as to never fall into the trap, regardless of the numbers Lucas says. Give the strategy to Matías.
b) Determine all the $n\ge 3$ such that Lucas can force Matías to fall into the trap. Give the strategy to Lucas.
Note. The two players know the value of $n$ and see the polygon.
A game consists of a grid of $4\times 4$ and tiles of two colors (Yellow and White). A player chooses a type of token and gives it to the second player who places it where he wants, then the second player chooses a type of token and gives it to the first who places it where he wants, They continue in this way and the one who manages to form a line with three tiles of the same color wins (horizontal, vertical or diagonal and regardless of whether it is the tile you started with or not). Before starting the game, two yellow and two white pieces are already placed as shows the figure below.
[img]https://cdn.artofproblemsolving.com/attachments/b/5/ba11377252c278c4154a8c3257faf363430ef7.png[/img]
Yolanda and Xinia play a game. If Yolanda starts (choosing the token and giving it to Xinia for this to place) indicate if there is a winning strategy for either of the two players and, if any, describe the strategy.
Anna and Basilis play a game writing numbers on a board as follows:
The two players play in turns and if in the board is written the positive integer $n$, the player whose turn is chooses a prime divisor $p$ of $n$ and writes the numbers $n+p$. In the board, is written at the start number $2$ and Anna plays first. The game is won by whom who shall be first able to write a number bigger or equal to $31$.
Find who player has a winning strategy, that is who may writing the appropriate numbers may win the game no matter how the other player plays.
There are $9999$ rods with lengths $1, 2, ..., 9998, 9999$. The players Anja and Bernd alternately remove one of the sticks, with Anja starting. The game ends when there are only three bars left. If from those three bars, a not degenerate triangle can be constructed then Anja wins, otherwise Bernd.
Who has a winning strategy?
Alina and Bogdan play a game on a $2\times n$ rectangular grid ($n\ge 2$) whose sides of length $2$ are glued together to form a cylinder. Alternating moves, each player cuts out a unit square of the grid. A player loses if his/her move causes the grid to lose circular connection (two unit squares that only touch at a corner are considered to be disconnected). Suppose Alina makes the first move. Which player has a winning strategy?
Two players play the following game on a square of $N \times N$ squares. They color one square in turn so that no two colored squares are on the same diagonal. A player who cannot make a move loses. For what values of $N$ does the first player have a winning strategy?
Alina and Bogdan play the following game. They have a heap and $330$ stones in it. They take turns. In one turn it is allowed to take from the heap exactly $1$, exactly $n$ or exactly $m$ stones. The player who takes the last stone wins. Before the beginning Alina says the number $n$, ($1 < n < 10$). After that Bogdan says the number $m$, ($m \ne n, 1 < m < 10$). Alina goes first. Which of the two players has a winning strategy? What if initially there are 2018 stones in the heap?
adapted from a Belarus Olympiad problem
There are $k$ heaps on the table, each containing a different positive number of stones. Juri and Mari make moves alternatingly, Juri starts. On each move, the player making the move has to pick a heap and remove one or more stones in it from the table; in addition, the player is allowed to distribute any number of remaining stones from that heap in any way between other non-empty heaps. The player to remove the last stone from the table wins. For which positive integers $k$ does Juri have a winning strategy for any initial state that satisfies the conditions?
Ana and Bruno have an $8 \times 8$ checkered board. Ana paints each of the $64$ squares with some color. Then Bruno chooses two rows and two columns on the board and looks at the $4$ squares where they intersect. Bruno's goal is for these $4$ squares to be the same color. How many colors, at least, must Ana use so that Bruno can't fulfill his objective? Show how you can paint the board with this amount of colors and explain because if you use less colors then Bruno can always fulfill his goal.
Agustín and Lucas, by turns, each time mark a box that has not yet been marked on a $101\times 101$ grid board. Augustine starts the game. You cannot check a box that already has two checked boxes in its row or column. The one who can't make his move loses. Decide which of the two players has a winning strategy.
Let $n > 1$ be a fixed integer. Alberto and Barbara play the following game:
(i) Alberto chooses a positive integer,
(ii) Barbara chooses an integer greater than $1$ which is a multiple or submultiple of the number Alberto chose (including itself),
(iii) Alberto increases or decreases the Barbara’s number by $1$.
Steps (ii) and (iii) are alternatively repeated. Barbara wins if she succeeds to reach the number $n$ in at most $50$ moves. For which values of $n$ can she win, no matter how Alberto plays?
Two players Arnaldo and Betania play alternately, with Arnaldo being the first to play. Initially there are two piles of stones containing $x$ and $y$ stones respectively. In each play, it is possible to perform one of the following operations:
1. Choose two non-empty piles and take one stone from each pile.
2. Choose a pile with an odd amount of stones, take one of their stones and, if possible, split into two piles with the same amount of stones.
The player who cannot perform either of operations 1 and 2 loses.
Determine who has the winning strategy based on $x$ and $y$.
Player $A$ and player $B$ play the next game on an $8$ by $8$ square chessboard.
They in turn color a field that is not yet colored. One player uses red and the other blue. Player $A$ starts. The winner is the first person to color the four squares of a square of $2$ by $2$ squares with his color somewhere on the board.
Prove that player $B$ can always prevent player $A$ from winning.
The numbers from $1$ to $500$ are written on the board. Two players $A$ and $B$ erase alternately one number at a time, and $A$ deletes the first number. If the sum of the last two number on the board is divisible by $3$, $B$ wins, otherwise $A$ wins. Which player can lay out a strategy that ensures this player's victory?