olymmath

USAMO 2016 Problem 6

  • Day 2

Integers nn and kk are given, with n≥k≥2n\ge k\ge2 . You play the following game against an evil wizard.

The wizard has 2n2n cards; for each i=1,…,ni=1,\ldots,n , there are two cards labeled ii . Initially, the wizard places all cards face down in a row, in unknown order.

You may repeatedly make moves of the following form: you point to any kk of the cards. The wizard then turns those cards face up. If any two of the cards match, the game is over and you win. Otherwise, you must look away, while the wizard arbitrarily permutes the kk chosen cards and then turns them back face-down. Then, it is your turn again.

We say this game is winnable if there exist some positive integer mm and some strategy that is guaranteed to win in at most mm moves, no matter how the wizard responds.

For which values of nn and kk is the game winnable?

Dataset text AI-MO AoPS. Quoted with source.

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