olymmath

Putnam 2023 A6

  • Session A

Alice and Bob play a game in which they take turns choosing integers from 11 to nn. Before any integers are chosen, Bob selects a goal of "odd" or "even". On the first turn, Alice chooses one of the nn integers. On the second turn, Bob chooses one of the remaining integers. They continue alternately choosing one of the integers that has not yet been chosen, until the nnth turn, which is forced and ends the game. Bob wins if the parity of {k ⁣:the number k was chosen on the kth turn}\{k\colon \text{the number }{k}\text{ was chosen on the }{k}\text{th turn}\} matches his goal. For which values of nn does Bob have a winning strategy?

Curated text Kedlaya Putnam archive. Quoted with source.

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