The alternative IMOs

(2001 - 2017)

Petar Nizić-Nikolac

July 2019
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Problems chosen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 42nd IMO 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 43rd IMO 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5 44th IMO 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6 45th IMO 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7 46th IMO 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 47th IMO 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9 48th IMO 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
10 49th IMO 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
11 50th IMO 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
12 51st IMO 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
13 52nd IMO 2011 (first version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
14 52nd IMO 2011 (second version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
15 53rd IMO 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
16 54th IMO 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
17 55th IMO 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
18 56th IMO 2015 (first version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
19 56th IMO 2015 (second version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
20 57th IMO 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
21 58th IMO 2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2
The alternative IMOs 3

1 Introduction
My first intention after being a competitor was to make a list of good quality1 IMO Shortlist problems just because
of practicality - I often attend preparations or mathematical camps2 and give lectures. So as the IMO 2019 was
getting closer and closer, I started making the Shortlist of Shortlists for the Croatian team as to save them time in
the last month prior to the IMO.
But as doing just a one problem at the time is incomparable to doing that problem when you have to think also
about two other problems on the paper, I changed my original idea and decided to retrospectively construct the
IMOs (from 2001 to 2017), how would they appear if the Shortlist is reduced by the six problems which appeared
on the real IMO. Throughout this text, a modern means from 2013 onward.
These are the rules3 (in order of importance) which I tried to follow upon constructing:
1. A selected problem should use some original and creative idea.

2. Purely straightforward solutions or bashs should be significantly harder then the original solution.
3. Problems 1, 2, 4 and 5 should be from all four different topics.
4. On each day no topic can appear twice.
5. Problems 3 and 6 should be from different topics.

6. Problems 2 and 5 should be decided first as they are the most important for the cutoffs.
These were the problems which I encountered during this process:
1. As the IMO gradually becomes harder, on some older shortlists there is a lack of problems which are of the
modern 3/6 difficulty.

2. In the last few years a lot of geometry methods such as inversion, projective geometry, complex numbers and
barycentric coordinates were popularized so some older geometry problems became trivialised and outdated.
3. ”Is this generally known fact or some contestants are favourised?” is the question that made me a lot of
trouble. It is hard to say that Menelaus theorem is well-known but the theory about Pell’s equations is not,
and sometimes really nice problems were ruled out just because they had a bit easier solution using a bit more
advanced mathematics.
4. Usually the easiest problems from the Shortlist were already selected for the real IMOs, so my choice of 1/4
seems to be a bit harder then usually.
5. It is extremely hard to evaluate how hard are actually these harder problems, I mean on those with Shortlist
number 6 or grater. The majority of them I have not solved all by myself, so I either heard a hint or read a
solution by myself, so my thoughts about harder problems are not entirely objective. However I do not think
that this was significant problem as the difficulty of P3 and P6 is varying a lot throughout the years.
6. A good problem for competition does not only require a nice solution but also lacking straightforward solutions
which are comparable in length and difficulty, so some very nice problems were not chosen due to this reason.

A big help was the AOPS forum as a lot of users posted different solutions, and the official Shortlists, especially
the newer ones which contained more comments.

Please send all comments and corrections to the author at petar.orao001@gmail.com.

1 Thisis tremendously subjective.

2 Organized by the society called Young gifted mathematicians Marin Getaldić and I am using this opportunity to promote it.
3 Which I may or may not personally agree, but I want to get something as closer to a modern IMO.
4 The alternative IMOs

2 Problems chosen
This table represents which problems were chosen for the real IMO (P1 - P6) and which for the alternative IMO
(P1’ - P6’). Each problem has a link to its AOPS thread.

Year City Country P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P1’ P2’ P3’ P4’ P5’ P6’

2001 Washington USA G2 A6 C8 C2 G8 N5 N3 C4 G7 A2 G5 N6
2002 Glasgow UK C1 G3 N6 N2 A4 G6 N1 A5 G8 G1 C5 A6
2003 Tokyo Japan C1 N3 G6 G1 A4 N6 G3 A5 N8 C3 N4 A6
2004 Athens Greece G1 A4 C7 A1 G4 N5 A2 G5 C8 N1 C5 A6
2005 Mérida Mexico G2 N2 A5 N1 G4 C6 C1 A4 N7 G1 N5 C84
2006 Ljubljana Slovenia G1 C2 A6 N1 N4 G10 A2 C4 G8 N3 G5 C5
2007 Hanoi Vietnam A1 G4 C6 G1 N65 A7 A3 C4 G8 G2 N5 A5
2008 Madrid Spain G1 A2 N6 A1 C4 G7 C26 C5 A6 A3 G3 C6
2009 Bremen Germany N1 G2 A6 G1 A3 C7 A2 G3 C6 C1 N5 G5
2010 Astana Kazakhstan A1 G4 N5 G2 C4 A7 G1 A5 C6 N2 C5 G7
N1 C5 A7 A2 G4 N8
2011 Amsterdam Netherlands A1 C3 A6 C1 N5 G8
C2 G3 N6 N2 A3 C77
2012 Mar del Plata Argentina G1 A3 C6 A1 G5 N7 N1 C3 G68 A2 G3 N6
2013 Santa Maria Colombia N2 C2 G6 G1 A3 C7 G2 N5 A5 A2 C3 N7
2014 Cape Town South Africa A1 C3 G5 G1 N3 C5 N1 G3 C9 C1 A4 N7
A19 C4 N6 N3 G3 C69
2015 Chiang Mai Thailand C2 N5 G6 G2 A4 C5
G19 N4 C7 A2 C3 G8
2016 Hong Kong Hong Kong G1 C4 N7 N3 A6 C7 N2 C310 A7 A3 G6 C8
2017 Rio de Janeiro Brazil N1 A6 C5 G2 C4 N7 C1 A5 N8 N3 G5 C6

As the Shortlists 2011 and 2015 are (in my opinion) the most beatiful ones, it was impossible to decide just 6
problems so I made two (disjoint in problems) alternative IMOs.

Just a bit of statistics, from 493 Shortlisted problems which appeared from 2001 to 2017, 102 were chosen for the
real IMOs and 114 for the alternative IMOs.
The average number of the Shortlist mark on each problem is:

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P1’ P2’ P3’ P4’ P5’ P6’

1.2 3.4 6.0 1.4 4.4 6.6 1.7 4.2 7.0 2.1 4.3 6.5

The distribution of topics on each problem is as follows:

Topic P1/P4 P2/P5 P3/P6 P1’/P4’ P2’/P5’ P3’/P6’

Algebra 21% 32% 18% 32% 18% 21%
Combinatorics 15% 24% 32% 16% 34% 32%
Geometry 44% 24% 24% 18% 32% 21%
Number Theory 21% 21% 26% 34% 16% 26%

4 Additional condition on n.
5 On the IMO different problem appeared, which is denoted by N6’.
6 Acting as number theory.
7 Easier version of the original problem as the answer is given.
8 Harder version of the original problem which is mentioned in the comment in the official Shortlist.
9 These problems were originally selected for the IMO, but leaked before the second day of the contest.
10 Slightly different condition is given, which is possible as argued in the official Shortlist.
 Language: English
Day: 1

Friday, July 6, 2001

Problem 1. Let a1 = 1111 , a2 = 1212 , a3 = 1313 , and this formula holds

an = |an−1 − an−2 | + |an−2 − an−3 |

for n > 4. Determine a1414 .

Problem 2. A set of three nonnegative integers {x, y, z} with x < y < z is called historic if
{z − y, y − x} = {1776, 2001}. Show that the set of all nonnegative integers can be written as the
union of pairwise disjoint historic sets.

Problem 3. Let O be an interior point of acute triangle ABC. Let A1 lie on BC with OA1
perpendicular to BC. Define B1 on CA and C1 on AB similarly. Prove that O is the circumcenter
of ABC if and only if the perimeter of A1 B1 C1 is not less than any one of the perimeters of
AB1 C1 , BC1 A1 , and CA1 B1 .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

5
 Language: English
Day: 2

Saturday, July 7, 2001

Problem 4. Let a0 , a1 , a2 , .√
. . be an arbitrary infinite sequence of positive numbers. Show that
the inequality 1 + an > an−1 n 2 holds for infinitely many positive integers n.

Problem 5. Let ABC be an acute triangle. Let DAC, EAB, and F BC be isosceles triangles
exterior to ABC, with |DA| = |DC|, |EA| = |EB|, and |F B| = |F C|, such that

∠ADC = 2∠BAC, ∠BEA = 2∠ABC, ∠CF B = 2∠ACB.

0 0
Let D be the intersection of lines DB and EF , let E be the intersection of EC and DF , and let
F 0 be the intersection of F A and DE. Find, with proof, the value of the sum
|DB| |EC| |F A|
+ + .
|DD | |EE | |F F 0 |
0 0

Problem 6. Is it possible to find 100 positive integers not exceeding 25000, such that all pairwise
sums of them are different?

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

6
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Problem 1. What is the smallest positive integer t such that there exist integers x1 , x2 , . . . , xt
with
x31 + x32 + . . . + x3t = 20022002 ?

Problem 2. Let n be a positive integer that is not a perfect cube. Define real numbers a, b, c by
√
3
1 1
a= n, b= , c= ,
a − [a] b − [b]
where [x] denotes the integer part of x. Prove that there are infinitely many such integers n with
the property that there exist integers r, s, t, not all zero, such that ra + sb + tc = 0.

Problem 3. Let two circles S1 and S2 meet at the points A and B. A line through A meets S1
again at C and S2 again at D. Let M , N , K be three points on the line segments CD, BC, BD
respectively, with M N parallel to BD and M K parallel to BC. Let E and F be points on those
arcs BC of S1 and BD of S2 respectively that do not contain A. Given that EN is perpendicular
to BC and F K is perpendicular to BD prove that ∠EM F = 90◦ .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

7
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Problem 4. Let B be a point on a circle S1 , and let A be a point distinct from B on the tangent
at B to S1 . Let C be a point not on S1 such that the line segment AC meets S1 at two distinct
points. Let S2 be the circle touching AC at C and touching S1 at a point D on the opposite side
of AC from B. Prove that the circumcentre of triangle BCD lies on the circumcircle of triangle
ABC.ext

Problem 5. Let r > 2 be a fixed positive integer, and let F be an infinite family of sets, each of
size r, no two of which are disjoint. Prove that there exists a set of size r − 1 that meets each set
in F .

Problem 6. Let A be a non-empty set of positive integers. Suppose that there are positive
integers b1 , . . . bn and c1 , . . . , cn such that
(i) for each i the set bi A + ci = {bi a + ci : a ∈ A} is a subset of A;
(ii) the sets bi A + ci and bj A + cj are disjoint whenever i 6= j.
Prove that
1 1
+ ... + 6 1.
b1 bn

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

8
 Language: English
Day: 1

Sunday, July 13, 2003

Problem 1. Let ABC be a triangle and let P be a point in its interior. Denote by D, E, F the
feet of the perpendiculars from P to the lines BC, CA, AB, respectively. Suppose that
AP 2 + P D2 = BP 2 + P E 2 = CP 2 + P F 2 .
Denote by IA , IB , IC the excenters of the triangle ABC. Prove that P is the circumcenter of the
triangle IA IB IC .

Problem 2. Let R+ be the set of all positive real numbers. Find all functions f : R+ → R+ that
satisfy the following conditions:
√ √ √
(i) f (xyz) + f (x) + f (y) + f (z) = f ( xy)f ( yz)f ( zx) for all x, y, z ∈ R+ ;
(ii) f (x) < f (y) for all 1 6 x < y.

Problem 3. Let p be a prime number and let A be a set of positive integers that satisfies the
following conditions:
(i) the set of prime divisors of the elements in A consists of p − 1 elements;
(ii) for any nonempty subset of A, the product of its elements is not a perfect p-th power.
What is the largest possible number of elements in A?

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

9
 Language: English
Day: 2

Monday, July 14, 2003

Problem 4. Let n > 5 be a given integer. Determine the greatest integer k for which there exists
a polygon with n vertices (convex or not, with non-selfintersecting boundary) having k internal
right angles.

Problem 5. Let b be an integer greater than 5. For each positive integer n, consider the number

· · · 1} 22
xn = |11 {z · · · 2} 5,
| {z
n−1 n

written in base b.
Prove that there exists a positive integer M such that for any integer n greater than M , the number
xn is a perfect square if and only if b = 10.

Problem 6. Let n be a positive integer and let (x1 , . . . , xn ), (y1 , . . . , yn ) be two sequences of
positive real numbers. Suppose (z2 , . . . , z2n ) is a sequence of positive real numbers such that
2
zi+j > xi yj for all 1 6 i, j 6 n.
Let M = max{z2 , . . . , z2n }. Prove that
 2   
M + z2 + · · · + z2n x1 + · · · + xn y1 + · · · + yn
> .
2n n n

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

10
 Language: English
Day: 1

Monday, July 12, 2004

Problem 1. An infinite sequence a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . of real numbers satisfies the equation

an = |an+1 − an+2 | for all n > 0

where a0 and a1 are two different positive reals. Can this sequence be bounded?

Problem 2. Let A1 A2 A3 . . . An be a regular n-gon. The points B1 , B2 , . . . , Bn−1 are defined as

follows:
(i) If i = 1 or i = n − 1, then Bi is the midpoint of Ai Ai+1 .
(ii) If 1 < i < n − 1, and S is intersection of the lines A1 Ai+1 and An Ai , then Bi is the intersection
point of the angle bisector of the angle ∠Ai SAi+1 with Ai Ai+1 .
Prove that
n−1
X
]A1 Bi An = 180◦
i=1

Problem 3. For a finite graph G, let f (G) be the number of triangles and g(G) the number of
tetrahedra formed by edges of G. Find the least constant c such that

g(G)3 6 c · f (G)4
for every graph G.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

11
 Language: English
Day: 2

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Problem 4. Let τ (n) denote the number of positive divisors of the positive integer n. Prove that
there exist infinitely many positive integers a such that the equation
τ (an) = n
does not have a positive integer solution n.

Problem 5. Let N be a positive integer. Two players A and B play a game, A writes down 1
first, then every player sees the last number written and if it is n then in his turn he erases it and
writes n + 1 or 2n, but his number cannot be bigger than N . The player who writes N wins.
(a) Who has a winning strategy for N = 2004?
(b) Find the least N > 2004 for which the answer is different from that in (a).

Problem 6. Find all functions f : R → R satisfying the equation

f x2 + y 2 + 2f (xy) = (f (x + y))2

for all x, y ∈ R.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

12
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Problem 1. A house has an even number of lamps distributed among its rooms in such a way
that there are at least three lamps in every room. Each lamp shares a switch with exactly one
other lamp, not necessarily from the same room. Each change in the switch shared by two lamps
changes their states simultaneously.
Prove that for every initial state of the lamps there exists a sequence of changes in some of the
switches at the end of which each room contains lamps which are on as well as lamps which are
off.

Problem 2. Find all functions f : R → R satisfying the equation

f (x + y) + f (x)f (y) = f (xy) + 2xy + 1
for all x, y ∈ R.

Problem 3. Let P (x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + . . . + a0 , where a0 , . . . , an are integers, an > 0, n > 2.
Prove that there exists a positive integer m such that P (m!) is a composite number.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

13
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Problem 4. In a triangle ABC satisfying |AC| + |BC| = 3|AB| the incircle of triangle ABC
has center I and touches the sides BC and CA at D and E, respectively. Let K and L be the
reflections of the points D and E with respect to I. Prove that the points A, B, K, L lie on the
same circle.

Problem 5. Denote by d(n) the number of divisors of the positive integer n. A positive integer
n is called highly divisible if d(n) > d(m) for all positive integers m < n. Two highly divisible
integers m and n with m < n are called consecutive if there exists no highly divisible integer s
satisfying m < s < n.
(a) Show that there are only finitely many pairs of consecutive highly divisible integers of the
form (a, b) with a | b.
(b) Show that for every prime number p there exist infinitely many positive highly divisible
integers r such that pr is also highly divisible.

Problem 6. Let n > 4 be an integer and suppose we have a convex n-gon. Some n − 3 diagonals
are coloured black and some other n − 3 diagonals are coloured red (a side is not a diagonal), so
that no two diagonals of the same colour can intersect strictly inside the polygon, although they
can share a vertex. Find the maximum number of intersection points between diagonals coloured
differently strictly inside the polygon, in terms of n.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

14
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Problem 1. The sequence of real numbers a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . is defined recursively by

n
X an−k
a0 = −1, = 0 for n > 1.
k=0
k+1

Show that an > 0 for all n > 1.

Problem 2. A cake has the form of an n × n square composed of n2 unit squares. Strawberries
lie on some of the unit squares so that each row or column contains exactly one strawberry; call
this arrangement A.
Let B be another such arrangement. Suppose that every grid rectangle with one vertex at the top
left corner of the cake contains no fewer strawberries of arrangement B than of arrangement A.
Prove that arrangement B can be obtained from A by performing a number of switches, defined
as follows:
A switch consists in selecting a grid rectangle with only two strawberries, situated at its top right
corner and bottom left corner, and moving these two strawberries to the other two corners of that
rectangle.

Problem 3. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral. A circle passing through the points A and D
and a circle passing through the points B and C are externally tangent at a point P inside the
quadrilateral. Suppose that
∠P AB + ∠P DC 6 90◦ and ∠P BA + ∠P CD 6 90◦ .
Prove that |AB| + |CD| > |BC| + |AD|.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

15
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Problem 4. We define a sequence a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . by

1 j n k j n k j n k
an = + + ··· + ,
n 1 2 n
where bxc denotes the integer part of x.
(a) Prove that an+1 > an infinitely often.
(b) Prove that an+1 < an infinitely often.

Problem 5. In triangle ABC, let J be the center of the excircle tangent to side BC at A1 and to
the extensions of the sides AC and AB at B1 and C1 , respectively. Suppose that the lines A1 B1
and AB are perpendicular and intersect at D. Let E be the foot of the perpendicular from C1 to
line DJ. Determine the angles ∠BEA1 and ∠AEB1 .

Problem 6. An (n, k)-tournament is a contest with n players held in k rounds such that:
(i) Each player plays in each round, and every two players meet at most once.
(ii) If player A meets player B in round i, player C meets player D in round i, and player A
meets player C in round j, then player B meets player D in round j.
Determine all pairs (n, k) for which there exists an (n, k)-tournament.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

16
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Problem 1. Let n be a positive integer, and let x and y be a positive real number such that
xn + y n = 1. Prove that
n
! n
!
X 1 + x2k X 1 + y 2k 1
4k
· 4k
< .
k=1
1+x k=1
1+y (1 − x) · (1 − y)

Problem 2. Let A0 = (a1 , . . . , an ) be a finite sequence of real numbers. For each k > 0, from the
sequence Ak = (x1 , . . . , xk ) we construct a new sequence Ak+1 in the following way.
1. We choose a partition {1, . . . , n} = I ∪ J, where I and J are two disjoint sets, such that the
expression  
X X 
xi − xj 
 

 
i∈I j∈J

attains the smallest value. (We allow I or J to be empty; in this case the corresponding sum
is 0.) If there are several such partitions, one is chosen arbitrarily.
2. We set Ak+1 = (y1 , . . . , yn ) where yi = xi + 1 if i ∈ I, and yi = xi − 1 if i ∈ J.
Prove that for some k, the sequence Ak contains an element x such that |x| > n2 .

Problem 3. Point P lies on side AB of a convex quadrilateral ABCD. Let ω be the incircle of
triangle CP D, and let I be its incenter. Suppose that ω is tangent to the incircles of triangles
AP D and BP C at points K and L, respectively. Let lines AC and BD meet at E, and let lines
AK and BL meet at F .
Prove that points E, I, and F are collinear.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

17
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Problem 4. Denote by M the midpoint of side BC in an isosceles triangle ABC with |AC| = |AB|.
Take a point X on the shorter arc M A of the circumcircle of triangle ABM . Let T be the point
in the angle domain BM A, for which ∠T M X = 90◦ and |T X| = |BX|.
Prove that ∠M T B − ∠CT M does not depend on the choice of X.

Problem 5. Find all surjective functions f : N → N such that for every m, n ∈ N and every prime
p, the number f (m + n) is divisible by p if and only if f (m) + f (n) is divisible by p.

Problem 6. Let c > 2, and let a(1), a(2), . . . be a sequence of nonnegative real numbers such that

a(m + n) 6 2 · a(m) + 2 · a(n) for all m, n > 1,

and
1
a 2k 6


for all k > 0.
(k + 1)c
Prove that the sequence a(n) is bounded.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

18
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Problem 1. For every positive integer n determine the number of permutations (a1 , . . . , an ) of
the set {1, 2, . . . , n} with the following property:

k | 2(a1 + · · · + ak ), for all 1 6 k 6 n.

Problem 2. Let S = {x1 , x2 , . . . , xk+l } be a (k + l)-element set of real numbers contained in the
interval [0, 1]; k and l are positive integers. A k-element subset A ⊂ S is called nice if
 
 
1 X 1 X  k+l

k x i − x j
≤
 x ∈A l  2kl
i xj ∈S\A 
 
2 k+l
Prove that the number of nice subsets is at least .
k+l k

Problem 3. Let f : R → N be a function which satisfies

   
1 1
f x+ =f y+
f (y) f (x)
for all x, y ∈ R. Prove that there is a positive integer which is not a value of f .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

19
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Problem 4. Let S ⊆ R be a set of real numbers. We say that a pair (f, g) of functions from S
into S is a Spanish Couple on S, if they satisfy the following conditions:
(i) Both functions are strictly increasing, i.e. f (x) < f (y) and g(x) < g(y) for all x, y ∈ S with
x < y;
(ii) The inequality f (g (g (x))) < g (f (x)) holds for all x ∈ S.
Decide whether there exists a Spanish Couple
(a) on the set S = N of positive integers;
1
(b) on the set S = {a − b
: a, b ∈ N}.

Problem 5. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral and let P and Q be points in ABCD such
that P QDA and QP BC are cyclic quadrilaterals. Suppose that there exists a point E on the
line segment P Q such that ∠P AE = ∠QDE and ∠P BE = ∠QCE. Show that the quadrilateral
ABCD is cyclic.

Problem 6. For n ≥ 2, let S1 , S2 , . . ., S2n be 2n subsets of A = {1, 2, 3, . . . , 2n+1 } that satisfy

the following property: There do not exist indices a and b with a < b and elements x, y, z ∈ A
with x < y < z and y, z ∈ Sa , and x, z ∈ Sb . Prove that at least one of the sets S1 , S2 , . . ., S2n
contains no more than 4n elements.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

20
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

1 1 1
Problem 1. Let a, b, c be positive real numbers such that + + = a + b + c. Prove that:
a b c
1 1 1 3
2
+ 2
+ 2
6 .
(2a + b + c) (a + 2b + c) (a + b + 2c) 16

Problem 2. Let ABC be a triangle. The incircle of ABC touches the sides AB and AC at the
points Z and Y , respectively. Let G be the point where the lines BY and CZ meet, and let R and
S be points such that the two quadrilaterals BCY R and BCSZ are parallelograms.
Prove that |GR| = |GS|.

Problem 3. On a 999 × 999 board a limp rook can move in the following way: From any square
it can move to any of its adjacent squares, i.e. a square having a common side with it, and every
move must be a turn, i.e. the directions of any two consecutive moves must be perpendicular. A
non-intersecting route of the limp rook consists of a sequence of pairwise different squares that
the limp rook can visit in that order by an admissible sequence of moves. Such a non-intersecting
route is called cyclic, if the limp rook can, after reaching the last square of the route, move directly
to the first square of the route and start over.
How many squares does the longest possible cyclic, non-intersecting route of a limp rook visit?

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

21
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Problem 4. Consider 2009 cards, each having one gold side and one black side, lying on parallel
on a long table. Initially all cards show their gold sides. Two player, standing by the same long
side of the table, play a game with alternating moves. Each move consists of choosing a block of
50 consecutive cards, the leftmost of which is showing gold, and turning them all over, so those
which showed gold now show black and vice versa. The last player who can make a legal move
wins.
a) Does the game necessarily end?
b) Does there exist a winning strategy for the starting player?

Problem 5. Let P (x) be a non-constant polynomial with integer coefficients. Prove that there is
no function T from the set of integers into the set of integers such that the number of integers x
with T n (x) = x is equal to P (n) for every n > 1, where T n denotes the n-fold application of T .

Problem 6. Let P be a polygon that is convex and symmetric to some point O. Prove that for
some parallelogram R satisfying P ⊂ R we have
|R| √
6 2
|P |
where |R| and |P | denote the area of the sets R and P , respectively.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

22
 Language: English
Day: 1

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Problem 1. Let ABC be an acute triangle with D, E, F the feet of the altitudes lying on
BC, CA, AB respectively. One of the intersection points of the line EF and the circumcircle is P .
The lines BP and DF meet at point Q. Prove that |AP | = |AQ|.

Problem 2. Denote by Q+ the set of all positive rational numbers. Determine all functions
f : Q+ 7→ Q+ satisfying the equation
f f (x)2 y = x3 f (xy)

for all x, y ∈ Q+ .

Problem 3. Given a positive integer k and other two integers b > w > 1. There are two strings
of pearls, a string of b black pearls and a string of w white pearls. The length of a string is the
number of pearls on it. One cuts these strings in some steps by the following rules. In each step:
(i) The strings are ordered by their lengths in a non-increasing order. If there are some strings of
equal lengths, then the white ones precede the black ones. Then k first ones (if they consist
of more than one pearl) are chosen; if there are less than k strings longer than 1, then one
chooses all of them.
(ii) Next, one cuts each chosen string into two parts differing in length by at most one. (For
instance, if there are strings of 5, 4, 4, 2 black pearls, strings of 8, 4, 3 white pearls and k =
4, then the strings of 8 white, 5 black, 4 white and 4 black pearls are cut into the parts
(4, 4), (3, 2), (2, 2) and (2, 2) respectively.) The process stops immediately after the step when
a first isolated white pearl appears.
Prove that at this stage, there will still exist a string of at least two black pearls.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

23
 Language: English
Day: 2

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Problem 4. Find all pairs (m, n) of nonnegative integers for which

m2 + 2 · 3n = m 2n+1 − 1 .

Problem 5. n > 4 players participated in a tennis tournament. Any two players have played
exactly one game, and there was no tie game. We call a company of four players bad if one player
was defeated by the other three players, and each of these three players won a game and lost
another game among themselves. Suppose that there is no bad company in this tournament. Let
wi and li be respectively the number of wins and losses of the i-th player. Prove that
n
X
(wi − li )3 > 0.
i=1

Problem 6. Three circular arcs γ1 , γ2 , and γ3 connect the points A and C. These arcs lie in the
same half-plane defined by line AC in such a way that arc γ2 lies between γ1 and γ3 . Point B lies
on the segment AC. Let h1 , h2 , and h3 be three rays starting at B, lying in the same half-plane,
h2 being between h1 and h3 . For i, j = 1, 2, 3, denote by Vij the point of intersection of hi and γj .

Denote by V\ ij Vkj Vkl Vil the curved

[
quadrilateral, whose sides are the seg-
ments Vij Vil , Vkj Vkl and arcs Vij Vkj and
Vil Vkl . We say that this quadrilateral
is circumscribed if there exists a circle
touching these two segments and two
arcs.
Prove that if the curved quadrilaterals
V\
11 V21 V22 V12 , V12 V22 V23 V13 , V21 V31 V32 V22
\ \\ \\
are circumscribed, then the curved
quadrilateral V\ 22 V32 V33 V23 is circum-
\
scribed, too.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

24
 Language: English
Day: 1

Monday, July 18, 2011

Problem 1. For any integer d > 0, let f (d) be the smallest possible integer that has exactly d
positive divisors (so for example we
have f (1) = 1, f
(5) = 16, and f (6) = 12). Prove that for
every integer k > 0 the number f 2k divides f 2k+1 .

Problem 2. Let m be a positive integer, and consider a m × m checkerboard consisting of

unit squares. At the centre of some of these unit squares there is an ant. At time 0, each ant
starts moving with speed 1 parallel to some edge of the checkerboard. When two ants moving
in the opposite directions meet, they both turn 90◦ clockwise and continue moving with speed 1.
When more than 2 ants meet, or when two ants moving in perpendicular directions meet, the ants
continue moving in the same direction as before they met. When an ant reaches one of the edges
of the checkerboard, it falls off and will not re-appear.
Considering all possible starting positions, determine the latest possible moment at which the last
ant falls off the checkerboard, or prove that such a moment does not necessarily exist.
√
Problem 3. Let a, b and c be positive real numbers satisfying min(a + b, b + c, c + a) > 2 and
a2 + b2 + c2 = 3. Prove that
a b c 3
+ + > .
(b + c − a)2 (c + a − b)2 (a + b − c)2 (abc)2

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

25
 Language: English
Day: 2

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Problem 4. Determine all sequences (x1 , x2 , . . . , x2011 ) of positive integers, such that for every
positive integer n there exists an integer a with
2011
X
jxnj = an+1 + 1
j=1

Problem 5. Let ABC be an acute triangle with circumcircle Ω. Let B0 be the midpoint of AC
and let C0 be the midpoint of AB. Let D be the foot of the altitude from A and let G be the
centroid of the triangle ABC. Let ω be a circle through B0 and C0 that is tangent to the circle Ω
at a point X 6= A. Prove that the points D, G and X are collinear.

Problem 6. Let k ∈ Z+ and set n = 2k + 1. Prove that n is a prime number if and only if the
following holds: there is a permutation a1 , . . . , an−1 of the numbers 1, 2, . . . , n − 1 and a sequence
of integers g1 , . . . , gn−1 , such that n divides giai − ai+1 for every i ∈ {1, 2, . . . , n − 1}, where we set
an = a1 .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

26
 Language: English
Day: 1

Monday, July 18, 2011

Problem 1. Suppose that 1000 students are standing in a circle. Prove that there exists an integer
k with 100 6 k 6 300 such that in this circle there exists a contiguous group of 2k students, for
which the first half contains the same number of girls as the second half.

Problem 2. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral whose sides AD and BC are not parallel. Sup-
pose that the circles with diameters AB and CD meet at points E and F inside the quadrilateral.
Let ωE be the circle through the feet of the perpendiculars from E to the lines AB, BC and CD.
Let ωF be the circle through the feet of the perpendiculars from F to the lines CD, DA and AB.
Prove that the midpoint of the segment EF lies on the line through the two intersections of ωE
and ωF .

Problem 3. Let P (x) and Q(x) be two polynomials with integer coefficients, such that no
nonconstant polynomial with rational coefficients divides both P (x) and Q(x). Suppose that for
every positive integer n the integers P (n) and Q(n) are positive, and 2Q(n) − 1 divides 3P (n) − 1.
Prove that Q(x) is a constant polynomial.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

27
 Language: English
Day: 2

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Problem 4. Consider a polynomial P (x) = 9j=1 (x + dj ), where d1 , d2 , . . . d9 are nine distinct

Q

integers. Prove that there exists an integer N, such that for all integers x > N the number P (x)
is divisible by a prime number greater than 20.

Problem 5. Determine all pairs (f, g) of functions from the set of real numbers to itself that
satisfy
g(f (x + y)) = f (x) + (2x + y)g(y)
for all real numbers x and y.

Problem 6. On a square table of 2011 by 2011 cells we place a finite number of napkins that
each cover a square of 52 by 52 cells. In each cell we write the number of napkins covering it, and
we record the maximal number k of cells that all contain the same nonzero number. Considering
all possible napkin configurations, prove that the largest value of k is 3986729.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

28
 Language: English
Day: 1

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Problem 1. Call admissible a set A of integers that has the following property:
If x, y ∈ A (possibly x = y) then x2 + kxy + y 2 ∈ A for every integer k.
Determine all pairs m, n of nonzero integers such that the only admissible set containing both m
and n is the set of all integers.

Problem 2. In a 999 × 999 square table some cells are white and the remaining ones are red. Let
T be the number of triples (C1 , C2 , C3 ) of cells, the first two in the same row and the last two in
the same column, with C1 , C3 white and C2 red. Find the maximum value T can attain.

Problem 3. Let ABC be a triangle and D be a variable point on the side BC. The points
E and F are given on the sides CA and AB respectively such that |BD| + |BF | = |CA| and
|CD| + |CE| = |AB|. The circumcircles of the triangles BF D and CDE intersect at P 6= D.
Prove that, as D varies, P stays on a fixed circle.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

29
 Language: English
Day: 2

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Problem 4. Let Z and Q be the sets of integers and rationals respectively.

a) Does there exist a partition of Z into three non-empty subsets A, B, C such that the sets
A + B, B + C, C + A are disjoint?
b) Does there exist a partition of Q into three non-empty subsets A, B, C such that the sets
A + B, B + C, C + A are disjoint?
Here X + Y denotes the set {x + y : x ∈ X, y ∈ Y }, for X, Y ⊆ Z and for X, Y ⊆ Q.

Problem 5. In an acute triangle ABC the points D, E and F are the feet of the altitudes through
A, B and C respectively. The incenters of the triangles AEF and BDF are I1 and I2 respectively;
the circumcenters of the triangles ACI1 and BCI2 are O1 and O2 respectively. Prove that I1 I2
and O1 O2 are parallel.
n
Problem 6. Let x and y be positive integers. If x2 − 1 is divisible by 2n y + 1 for every positive
integer n, prove that x = 1.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

30
 Language: English
Day: 1

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Problem 1. Let ω be the circumcircle of a triangle ABC. Denote by M and N the midpoints of
the sides AB and AC, respectively, and denote by T the midpoint of the arc BC of ω not containing
A. The circumcircles of the triangles AM T and AN T intersect the perpendicular bisectors of AC
and AB at points X and Y , respectively; assume that X and Y lie inside the triangle ABC. The
lines M N and XY intersect at K. Prove that |KA| = |KT |.

Problem 2. Fix an integer k > 2. Two players, called Ana and Banana, play the following game
of numbers. Initially, some integer n ≥ k gets written on the blackboard. Then they take moves
in turn, with Ana beginning. A player making a move erases the number m just written on the
blackboard and replaces it by some number m0 with k ≤ m0 < m that is coprime to m. The first
player who cannot move anymore loses.
An integer n ≥ k is called good if Banana has a winning strategy when the initial number is n,
and bad otherwise.
Consider two integers n, n0 ≥ k with the property that each prime number p ≤ k divides n if and
only if it divides n0 . Prove that either both n and n0 are good or both are bad.

Problem 3. Let Z≥0 be the set of all nonnegative integers. Find all the functions f : Z≥0 → Z≥0
satisfying the relation
f (f (f (n))) = f (n + 1) + 1
for all n ∈ Z≥0 .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

31
 Language: English
Day: 2

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Problem 4. Prove that in any set of 2000 distinct real numbers there exist two pairs a > b and
c > d with a 6= c or b 6= d, such that
 
a − b  1

c − d − 1<
 100000 .

Problem 5. A crazy physicist discovered a new kind of particle wich he called an imon, after
some of them mysteriously appeared in his lab. Some pairs of imons in the lab can be entangled,
and each imon can participate in many entanglement relations. The physicist has found a way to
perform the following two kinds of operations with these particles, one operation at a time.
(i) If some imon is entangled with an odd number of other imons in the lab, then the physicist
can destroy it.
(ii) At any moment, he may double the whole family of imons in the lab by creating a copy I 0
of each imon I. During this procedure, the two copies I 0 and J 0 become entangled if and
only if the original imons I and J are entangled, and each copy I 0 becomes entangled with its
original imon I; no other entanglements occur or disappear at this moment.
Prove that the physicist may apply a sequence of much operations resulting in a family of imons,
no two of which are entangled.

Problem 6. Let ν be an irrational positive number, and let m be a positive integer. A pair of
(a, b) of positive integers is called good if
a dbνe − b baνc = m.

A good pair (a, b) is called excellent if neither of the pair (a − b, b) and (a, b − a) is good.
Prove that the number of excellent pairs is equal to the sum of the positive divisors of m.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

32
 Language: English
Day: 1

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Problem 1. Let n ≥ 2 be an integer, and let An be the set

An = {2n − 2k | k ∈ Z, 0 ≤ k < n}.

Determine the largest positive integer that cannot be written as the sum of one or more (not
necessarily distinct) elements of An .

Problem 2. Let Ω and O be the circumcircle and the circumcentre of an acute-angled triangle
ABC with AB > BC. The angle bisector of ∠ABC intersects Ω at M 6= B. Let Γ be the circle
with diameter BM . The angle bisectors of ∠AOB and ∠BOC intersect Γ at points P and Q,
respectively. The point R is chosen on the line P Q so that BR = M R. Prove that BR k AC.
(Here we always assume that an angle bisector is a ray.)

Problem 3. There are n circles drawn on a piece of paper in such a way that any two circles
intersect in two points, and no three circles pass through the same point. Turbo the snail slides
along the circles in the following fashion. Initially he moves on one of the circles in clockwise
direction. Turbo always keeps sliding along the current circle until he reaches an intersection with
another circle. Then he continues his journey on this new circle and also changes the direction of
moving, i.e. from clockwise to anticlockwise or vice versa.
Suppose that Turbo’s path entirely covers all circles. Prove that n must be odd.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

33
 Language: English
Day: 2

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Problem 4. Let n points be given inside a rectangle R such that no two of them lie on a line
parallel to one of the sides of R. The rectangle R is to be dissected into smaller rectangles with
sides parallel to the sides of R in such a way that none of these rectangles contains any of the
given points in its interior. Prove that we have to dissect R into at least n + 1 smaller rectangles.

Problem 5. Determine all functions f : Z → Z satisfying

f f (m) + n + f (m) = f (n) + f (3m) + 2014

for all integers m and n.

Problem 6. Let c > 1 be an integer. Define a sequence of positive integers by a1 = c and

an+1 = a3n − 4c · a2n + 5c2 · an + c
for all n ≥ 1. Prove that for each integer n > 2 there exists a prime number p dividing an but
none of the numbers a1 , . . . , an−1 .

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

34
 Language: English
Day: 1

Friday, July 10, 2015

Problem 1. Suppose that a sequence a1 , a2 , . . . of positive real numbers satisfies

kak
ak+1 >
a2k + (k − 1)
for every positive integer k. Prove that a1 + a2 + . . . + an > n for every n > 2.

Problem 2. Let n be a positive integer. Two players A and B play a game in which they take
turns choosing positive integers k ≤ n. The rules of the game are:
(i) A player cannot choose a number that has been chosen by either player on any previous turn.
(ii) A player cannot choose a number consecutive to any of those the player has already chosen
on any previous turn.
(iii) The game is a draw if all numbers have been chosen; otherwise the player who cannot choose
a number anymore loses the game.
The player A takes the first turn. Determine the outcome of the game, assuming that both players
use optimal strategies.

Problem 3. Let N denote the set of positive integers. Consider a function f : N → N. For any
m, n ∈ N we write f n (m) = f (f (. . . f (m) . . .)). Suppose that f has the following two properties:
| {z }
n

f n (m)−m
(i) if m, n ∈ N, then n
∈ N;
(ii) The set N \ {f (n) | n ∈ N} is finite.
Prove that the sequence f (1) − 1, f (2) − 2, f (3) − 3, . . . is periodic.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

35
 Language: English
Day: 2

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Problem 4. Let m and n be positive integers such that m > n. Define xk = m+k n+k
for k =
1, 2, . . . , n + 1. Prove that if all the numbers x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 are integers, then x1 x2 . . . xn+1 − 1 is
divisible by an odd prime.

Problem 5. Let ABC be a triangle with ∠C = 90◦ , and let H be the foot of the altitude from C.
A point D is chosen inside the triangle CBH so that CH bisects AD. Let P be the intersection
point of the lines BD and CH. Let ω be the semicircle with diameter BD that meets the segment
CB at an interior point. A line through P is tangent to ω at Q. Prove that the lines CQ and AD
meet on ω.

Problem 6. Let S be a nonempty set of positive integers. We say that a positive integer n is
clean if it has a unique representation as a sum of an odd number of distinct elements from S.
Prove that there exist infinitely many positive integers that are not clean.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

36
 Language: English
Day: 1

Friday, July 10, 2015

Problem 1. Let ABC be an acute triangle with orthocenter H. Let G be the point such that the
quadrilateral ABGH is a parallelogram. Let I be the point on the line GH such that AC bisects
HI. Suppose that the line AC intersects the circumcircle of the triangle GCI at C and J. Prove
that |IJ| = |AH|.

Problem 2. Suppose that a0 , a1 , · · · and b0 , b1 , · · · are two sequences of positive integers such
that a0 , b0 ≥ 2 and
an+1 = gcd (an , bn ) + 1, bn+1 = lcm (an , bn ) − 1.
Show that the sequence an is eventually periodic; in other words, there exist integers N ≥ 0 and
t > 0 such that an+t = an for all n ≥ N .

Problem 3. In a company of people some pairs are enemies. A group of people is called unsociable
if the number of members in the group is odd and at least 3, and it is possible to arrange all its
members around a round table so that every two neighbors are enemies.
Given that there are at most 2015 unsociable groups, prove that it is possible to partition the
company into 11 parts so that no two enemies are in the same part.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

37
 Language: English
Day: 2

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Problem 4. Determine all functions f : Z → Z with the property that

f (x − f (y)) = f (f (x)) − f (y) − 1

holds for all x, y ∈ Z.

Problem 5. For a finite set A of positive integers, a partition of A into two disjoint nonempty
subsets A1 and A2 is good if the least common multiple of the elements in A1 is equal to the greatest
common divisor of the elements in A2 . Determine the minimum value of n such that there exists
a set of n positive integers with exactly 2015 good partitions.

Problem 6. A triangulation of a convex polygon Π is a partitioning of Π into triangles by diagonals

having no common points other than the vertices of the polygon. We say that a triangulation is a
Thaiangulation if all triangles in it have the same area.
Prove that any two different Thaiangulations of a convex polygon Π differ by exactly two triangles.
(In other words, prove that it is possible to replace one pair of triangles in the first Thaiangulation
with a different pair of triangles so as to obtain the second Thaiangulation.)

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

38
 Language: English
Day: 1

Monday, July 11, 2016

Problem 1. Let τ (n) be the number of positive divisors of n. Let τ1 (n) be the number of positive
divisors of n which have remainders 1 when divided by 3. Find all positive integral values of the
fraction ττ1(10n)
(10n)
.

Problem 2. Let n be an odd integer. We paint the vertices of a regular n-gon with three colours
so that there is an odd number of vertices of each colour. Show that there exists an isosceles
triangle whose three vertices are of different colours.

Problem 3. Find all functions f : R → R such that f (0) 6= 0 and

f (x + y)2 = 2f (x)f (y) + max f (x2 + y 2 ), f (x2 ) + f (y 2 )


holds for all x, y ∈ R,

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

39
 Language: English
Day: 2

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Problem 4. Find all positive integers n such that the following statement holds: Suppose real
numbers a1 , a2 , . . . , an , b1 , b2 , . . . , bn satisfy |ak | + |bk | = 1 for all k = 1, . . . , n. Then there exists
ε1 , ε2 , . . . , εn , each of which is either −1 or 1, such that
   
Xn  X n 
ε i ai  +  εi bi  ≤ 1.
   

   
i=1 i=1

Problem 5. Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral with ∠ABC = ∠ADC < 90◦ . The internal
angle bisectors of ∠ABC and ∠ADC meet AC at E and F respectively, and meet each other at
point P . Let M be the midpoint of AC and let ω be the circumcircle of triangle BP D. Segments
BM and DM intersect ω again at X and Y respectively. Denote by Q the intersection point of
lines XE and Y F . Prove that P Q ⊥ AC.

Problem 6. Let n be a positive integer. Determine the smallest positive integer k with the
following property: it is possible to mark k cells on a 2n × 2n board so that there exists a unique
partition of the board into 1 × 2 and 2 × 1 dominoes, none of which contain two marked cells.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

40
 Language: English
Day: 1

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Problem 1. A rectangle R with odd integer side lengths is divided into small rectangles with
integer side lengths. Prove that there is at least one among the small rectangles whose distances
from the four sides of R are either all odd or all even.

Problem 2. An integer n > 3 is given. We call an n-tuple of real numbers (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) Shiny
if for each permutation y1 , y2 , . . . , yn of these numbers, we have
n−1
X
yi yi+1 = y1 y2 + y2 y3 + y3 y4 + · · · + yn−1 yn > −1.
i=1

Find the largest constant K = K(n) such that

X
xi xj > K
16i<j6n

holds for every Shiny n-tuple (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ).

Problem 3. Let p be an odd prime number and N be the set of positive integers. Suppose that
a function f : N × N → {0, 1} satisfies the following properties:
(i) f (1, 1) = 0;
(ii) f (a, b) + f (b, a) = 1 for any pair of relatively prime positive integers a, b not both equal to 1;
(iii) f (a + b, b) = f (a, b) for any pair of relatively prime positive integers (a, b).
Prove that
p−1
X p
f (n2 , p) > 2p − 2.
n=1

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

41
 Language: English
Day: 2

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Problem 4. Determine all integers n > 2 having the following property: for any integers
a1 , a2 , . . . , an whose sum is not divisible by n, there exists an index 1 6 i 6 n such that none
of the numbers
ai , ai + ai+1 , . . . , ai + ai+1 + . . . + ai+n−1
is divisible by n. Here, we let ai = ai−n when i > n.

Problem 5. Let ABCC1 B1 A1 be a convex hexagon such that AB = BC, and suppose that the
line segments AA1 , BB1 , and CC1 have the same perpendicular bisector. Let the diagonals AC1
and A1 C meet at D, and denote by ω the circle ABC. Let ω intersect the circle A1 BC1 again at
E 6= B. Prove that the lines BB1 and DE intersect on ω.

Problem 6. Let n > 1 be a given integer. An n × n × n cube is composed of n3 unit cubes. Each
unit cube is painted with one colour. For each n × n × 1 box consisting of n2 unit cubes (in any
of the three possible orientations), we consider the set of colours present in that box (each colour
is listed only once). This way, we get 3n sets of colours, split into three groups according to the
orientation. It happens that for every set in any group, the same set appears in both of the other
groups. Determine, in terms of n, the maximal possible number of colours that are present.

Language: English Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Each problem is worth 7 points

42