Each year a committee appointed by the Unione Matematica Italiana, called “Pro-

getto Olimpiadi della Matematica”, organizes the selection of the Italian team for
the International Mathematical Olympiad. The program is sponsored by the Ital-
ian Ministery for Education (Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione), and is actively
supported by a very large number of mathematics teachers throughout the country.
The selection of students is made in four steps:
1. I giochi di Archimede: this is a very popular competition (with about 300,000
participants), held in November. The papers are given to the students in their
own schools and consist of 20 to 25 multiple choice questions. The questions of
the paper are meant to be suitable to a large number of students and mainly
require ingenuity rather than technical abilities. This competition has two
levels: junior (age 14-16) and senior (age 16-19).
2. Gare provinciali: this competition is held in February in each of about one
hundred provinces of Italy. Only the best students in “I giochi di Archimede”
are admitted. The paper contains three kinds of problems: multiple choice
questions, problems with a numerical answer and problems that require a
mathematical proof.
3. Olimpiadi Italiane di Matematica: this competition is held at the beginning of
May in Cesenatico, a town on the Adriatic coast, among the 300 best students
of level 2. Students are invited for a 3-day event, but the competition itself is
held on just one day. The paper contains 6 problems requiring a mathematical
proof. At the end there is an awarding ceremony in the style of the IMO.
4. Stage for the Team Selection: the best 25 students in level 3 are invited to a
one-week stage, usually held at the end of May. The stage ends with the Team
Selection Test, a two-days’ competition in the Olympiad’s style.
The present booklet collects all the problems given during the selection process in
view of the 2009 I.M.O. in Bremen. For the problems of the first two sections we
include just the answers and some hints for the required proofs. We provide full
solutions for all problems of the “Olimpiadi Italiane di Matematica”.

Pisa, 21 June 2009 Roberto Dvornicich

chairman of the Committee
Progetto Olimpiadi della Matematica
I Giochi di Archimede
19 November 2008
Problems for junior students
1 Today, the Great Marathon takes place on Jupiter. It is 2008 km long, and 80%
of the planet’s inhabitants participate. After 2 km, 95% of the participants give
up; the remaining 2000 reach the finish line. How many inhabitants are there on
Jupiter?
(A) 20 000 (B) 40 000 (C) 50 000 (D) 80 000 (E) 100 000.
2 A race car driver wants to establish a new world record on a 50 km track: he
wants to cover the track with an average speed of 100 km/h. Because of technical
issues, he covers the first 25 km in 40 minutes. At what constant speed must he
drive for the rest of the track in order to reach his goal?
(A) There is no such speed (B) 100 km/h (C) 50 km/h (D) 150 km/h
(E) 200 km/h.
3 Alice, Bob and Charles play bowling with 2008 pins. Alice knocks down three
times as many pins as Bob, who in turn knocks down twice as many pins as
Charles. How many pins, at most, could Alice have knocked down?
(A) 1321 (B) 1338 (C) 1342 (D) 1353 (E) 1362.
4 Peter and Paul celebrate their birthday at a restaurant with their friends. At
the end of the evening, they first decide to split the bill equally between them.
This way, everyone would to pay 12 euros. However, in a show of generosity, the
other’s decide to pay for Peter and Paul’s dinners. They split the bill between
them, and they each pay 16 euros. How many friends do Peter and Paul have?
(A) 6 (B) 8 (C) 10 (D) 12 (E) 16.
5 On Mars, the Minister of Martian Education has declared that for the next
school year he will reduce by 30% the number of schoolteachers, and that those
remaining will receive a 35% raise. The money spent on teachers’ paychecks will
therefore:
(A) decrease by 5,5% (B) decrease by 5% (C) increase by 5%
(D) remain unchanged (E) increase by 7%.
6 Let ABC be a right triangle whose catheti BC and CA measure 7 cm and
24 cm respectively. Let H be the projection of C on the hypothenuse AB. Find
the perimeter of the triangle HBC.
(A) 262
25 cm (B) 501
49 cm (C) 392
25 cm (D) 801
49 cm (E) 412
25 cm.

7 Peter’s house and his school are located at the two ends of a straight road.
Peter’s mom leaves their house and heads towards the school at the same moment
when Peter leaves school and heads home. Peter’s mom walks at twice Peter’s
speed. How much of the road will Peter’s mom have traveled when they meet?
(A) 1/3 (B) 2/5 (C) 1/2 (D) 2/3 (E) 3/4.
2

8 Mom has rolled some cookie dough into a square with

40 cm sides. She cuts five round cookies of equal size, as
shown in√the figure. Find the √
the diameter of each
√ cookie.
(A) 40( 2 − 1) cm √ (B) 10 2 cm (C) 20( 2 − 1) cm
(D) 16 cm (E) 6( 2 + 1) cm.

9 How many four-digit natural numbers are there in which the digit 5 appears
exactly once, and it is the greatest of the digits?
(A) 225 (B) 400 (C) 425 (D) 525 (E) 600.

10 Let ABCD be a square with 1 cm sides, and let M and N be points on BC

and CD respectively, such that BM = N D. The area of the triangle AM N is
4/9 cm2 . What is the length of N D? √ √
(A) 41 cm (B) 13 cm (C) 12 cm (D) 5−1 2 cm (E) 23 cm.

11 Find the number of ordered triples (x, y, z) of positive integers such that
x2 + 2xy + y 2 − z 2 = 9?
(A) None (B) two (C) three (D) four (E) more than six.

12 What is 0, 60 + 0, 70?
(A) 1, 3 (B) 1, 30 (C) 1, 31 (D) 1, 4 (E) 1, 40.

13 Find the number of positive integers which are multiples of 5, 7, or both, and
are less than or equal to 1000.
(A) 288 (B) 302 (C) 314 (D) 342 (E) 382.

14 A bag contains 20 balls, and on each one an integer between 0 and 10 (0 and
10 included) has been written. If the number written on a ball is not zero, then it
is the sum of all the numbers written on every other ball. How many balls with
zero written on them are there?
(A) not more than five (B) ten (C) thirteen (D) sixteen
(E) at least eighteen.

15 In the figure to the side, the points A, B, C, and D represent B

houses, and the lines represent streets. A man wants to find a
path which starts from one house and passes through all of the A C
streets exactly once, passing by a house more than once, if
necessary. How many of the houses can he use as a starting point? D
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4.
 3

16 The diameter of the circumference in the figure measures D

5 cm, and the points A, B, and C divide the circumference into A B
three arcs of equal size. What is the area of the surface delimited
by the chords√AB and BC, and by the arc containing D?
√
(A) 25( π3 + 23 ) cm2 (B) 25( π6 + 3) cm2
√ √ √
(C) 15( π3 + 23 ) cm2 (D) 252 3 cm2 (E) 25 π 3 2 C
2 ( 3 + 2 ) cm .
17 The squares of a square chessboard are numbered as 1

shown in the figure. The 38th square is on the second 2

column, and the square on the third column which lies on

the same row is marked 43. Find the number of squares on
the chessboard.
(A) 144 (B) 160 (C) 225 (D) 400 (E) 625.

18 Let ABCD be a rectangle, and let E be a point of CD. Knowing that the
area of the triangle ADE is equal to a fifth of the area of the trapezoid ABCE,
find the ratio of the length of DC to the length of DE.
(A) 2 (B) 3 (C) 4 (D) 5 (E) 6.
19 A satellite with a camera has been sent to the planet Papilla. Thanks to its
reports, we have been able to establish that the statement, “on Papilla, everyone is
fat and dirty” is false. Hence, we now know that:
(A) on Papilla at least one inhabitant is thin and clean,
(B) on Papilla everyone is thin and clean,
(C) on Papilla at least one inhabitant is thin,
(D) on Papilla at least one inhabitant is clean,
(E) on Papilla, if all inhabitants are dirty, at least one of them is thin.
20 3 teams compete in a football championship. Each team has 15 players,
including reserves, numbered from 1 to 15. It snowed the night before the
championship, and in order to play someone must shovel the snow from the field.
It is decided that 3 players, one from each team and none with the same number,
will be in charge of shovelling. How many possible groups can be picked?
(A) 48 (B) 455 (C) 1125 (D) 2730 (E) 3375.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
C A B A A C D A C B D C C E C A D B E D
4

Problems for senior students

1 A race car driver wants to establish a new world record on a 50 km track: he
wants to cover the track with an average speed of 100 km/h. Because of technical
issues, he covers the first 25 km in 40 minutes. At what constant speed must he
drive for the rest of the track in order to reach his goal?
(A) There is no such speed (B) 100 km/h (C) 50 km/h (D) 150 km/h
(E) 200 km/h.
2 Alice, Bob and Charles play bowling with 2008 pins. Alice knocks down three
times as many pins as Bob, who in turn knocks down twice as many pins as
Charles. How many pins, at most, could Alice have knocked down?
(A) 1321 (B) 1338 (C) 1342 (D) 1353 (E) 1362.
3 Peter and Paul celebrate their birthday at a restaurant with their friends. At
the end of the evening, they first decide to split the bill equally between them.
This way, everyone would to pay 12 euros. However, in a show of generosity, the
other’s decide to pay for Peter and Paul’s dinners. They split the bill between
them, and they each pay 16 euros. How many friends do Peter and Paul have?
(A) 6 (B) 8 (C) 10 (D) 12 (E) 16.
4 On Mars, the Minister of Martian Education has declared that for the next
school year he will reduce by 30% the number of schoolteachers, and that those
remaining will receive a 35% raise. The money spent on teachers’ paychecks will
therefore:
(A) be reduced by 5,5% (B) be reduced by 5% (C) increase by 5%
(D) remain unchanged (E) increase by 7%.
5 Let ABC be a right triangle whose catheti BC and CA measure 7 cm and 24 cm
respectively. Let H be the projection of C on the hypothenuse AB. Find the
perimeter of the triangle HBC. In un triangolo rettangolo ABC i cateti BC e CA
misurano 7 cm e 24 cm rispettivamente. Sia H la proiezione di C sull’ipotenusa
AB. Quanto vale il perimetro del triangolo HBC?
(A) 262
25 cm (B) 501
49 cm (C) 392
25 cm (D) 801
49 cm (E) 412
25 cm.
6 Find the number of values of b for which the equation

x2 + bx − 16 = 0 ,

has two real solutions (not necessarily distinct) which are integers?
(A) two (B) three (C) four (D) five (E) six.

7 Two circles are drawn as shown in the figure on a piece of

graph paper, in which the sides of each square measures 2 cm.
The smallest
√ distance between the√two circles measures:
(A) √10 cm (B) 3 cm √(C) ( 10 + 3) cm
(D) ( 10 − 2) cm (E) ( 10 − 3) cm.
 5

8 For every natural number n, let Sn be the sum of the first ten multiples of n.
For example, S2 = 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 + 14 + 16 + 18 + 20. What is
S1 + S2 + S3 + ... + S10 ?
(A) 2725 (B) 3025 (C) 3125 (D) 3225 (E) 3275.
9 Let ABCD be a quadrilateral whose diagonals are perpendicular to each other.
Let ABCD be inscribed in a circumference c of diameter AC. The area and the
perimeter of ABCD are 48 cm2 and 28 cm respectively. Find the measure of the
radius of c.
(A) 4 cm (B) 5 cm (C) 6 cm (D) 7 cm (E) 8.
10 A student of Fibonacci invented a sequence of numbers defined: the first and
second numbers are 0 and 1, after that, each number is obtained by adding
together all previous numbers. What is the fifteenth number of the sequence?
(A) 377 (B) 2084 (C) 2584 (D) 3012 (E) 4096.
p3
√ √
11 n and m are two integers such that 45 + 29 2 = m + n 2. What is m + n?
(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 6 (E) 7.
12 The arithmetic mean of 27 consecutive natural numbers is 2008. What is the
least of these numbers?
(A) 1995 (B) 1997 (C) 1999 (D) 2001 (E) 2004.
13 Let N be the greatest of natural numbers n such that

n 6024
< .
n+1 6027

What is the sum of the digits of N ?

(A) 6 (B) 7 (C) 8 (D) 9 (E) 10.
14 Find the number of ordered triples (x, y, z) of positive integers such that
x2 + 2xy + y 2 − z 2 = 9? (A) None (B) two (C) three (D) four
(E) more than six.
15 Find the number of positive integers which are multiples of 5, 7, or both, and
are less than or equal to 1000. (A) 288 (B) 302 (C) 314 (D) 342
(E) 382.
16 A bag contains 20 balls, and on each one an integer between 0 and 10 (0 and
10 included) has been written. If the number written on a ball is not zero, then it
is the sum of all the numbers written on every other ball. How many balls with
zero written on them are there?
(A) not more than five (B) ten (C) thirteen (D) sixteen
(E) at least eighteen.
6

17 In the figure to the side, the points A, B, C, and D represent B

houses, and the lines represent streets. A man wants to find a
path which starts from one house and passes through all of the A C
streets exactly once, passing by a house more than once, if
necessary. How many of the houses can he use as a starting point? D
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4.
18 The sum of all two-digit numbers with distinct digits is:
(A) 3840 (B) 3960 (C) 4140 (D) 4260 (E) 4410.

19 The diameter of the circumference in the figure measures D

5 cm, and the points A, B, and C divide the circumference into A B
three arcs of equal size. What is the area of the surface delimited
by the chords√AB and BC, and by the arc containing D?
√
(A) 25( π3 + 23 ) cm2 (B) 25( π6 + 3) cm2
√ √ √
(C) 15( π3 + 23 ) cm2 (D) 252 3 cm2 (E) 25 ( π
+ 3 2 C
2 3 2 ) cm .
20 The squares of a square chessboard are numbered as 1

shown in the figure. The 38th square is on the second 2

column, and the square on the third column which lies on

the same row is marked 43. Find the number of squares on
the chessboard.
(A) 144 (B) 160 (C) 225 (D) 400 (E) 625.

21 Every time Archibald goes home after he gets a bad grade, his mother grounds
him, if she is home. Yesterday afternoon Archibald didn’t get grounded. Which of
the following statements is certainly true?
(A) yesterday Archibald got a bad grade,
(B) yesterday Archibald did not get a bad grade,
(C) yesterday afternoon Archibald’s mother was home;
(D) yesterday afternoon Archibald’s mother wasn’t home;
(E) none of the above statements is certainly true.
22 3 teams compete in a football championship. Each team has 15 players,
including reserves, numbered from 1 to 15. It snowed the night before the
championship, and in order to play someone must shovel the snow from the field.
It is decided that 3 players, one from each team and none with the same number,
will be in charge of shovelling. How many possible groups can be picked?
(A) 48 (B) 455 (C) 1125 (D) 2730 (E) 3375.
23 Charlie draws a rectangle with two yellow sides 24 cm long and two red sides
36 cm long. He then paints every point of the rectangle the colour of the side
 7

closest to the point. What is the area of the yellow part?

(A) 144 cm2 (B) 288 cm2 (C) 364 cm2 (D) 442 cm2
(E) 524 cm2 .
24 C and T are a right circular cone and a right circular cylinder respectively.
The have the same axis and their bases lie on the same plane, and they lie on the
same side of the plane. The area of the base of C is 400 π cm2 and the radius of
the base of T measures 10 cm. The heights of both C and T measure 20 cm. What
percentage of C’s volume does the intersection of C and T contain?
(A) 40% (B) 45% (C) 50% (D) 55% (E) 60%.
25 John wants to draw a 3 × 3 grid, and write in each box a number from 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, so that for each row, column and diagonal the sum of the number in the
boxes is equal to 4. How many possible ways can he do this?
(A) None (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A B A A C D E B B E B A D D C E C E A D E D B C A
Gare provinciali
12 February 2009
1 Find the
√ number
√ of integers such that the absolute value of the difference
between n and 101 is less than 1.
(A) 19 (B) 21 (C) 40 (D) 41 (E) 42.
2 The perimeter of a rhombus is 32 cm, and its acute angles are 30 degrees. Find
the volume
√ of the solid obtained by rotating
√ the rhombus around one
√ of its sides.
(A) 128 3π (B) 128π (C) 64( 3 − 1)π (D) 64π (E) 32 3π.
3 Last New Year’s Day, glasses in the shape of “2009”, in which the two zeroes
served as lenses, were popular. In order to make similar glasses, the number must
have two consecutive zeroes (for example, 3500 works, while 2010 doesn’t). How
many years are there between 999 and 9999 that satisfy this condition?
(A) 171 (B) 180 (C) 190 (D) 191 (E) 200.
4 Luke, Mary, Nick and Paula are sitting at a table. Each one of them either
always tells the truth, or always lies. They also would rather talk about their
friends than talk about themselves. They are asked the question, “which ones of
you always lie?” and they reply as follows:
Luke: “each girl always tells the truth.”
Mary: “each boy always lies.”
Nick: “one girl always lies, the other always tells the truth.”
Paula: “one boy always tells the truth, the other always lies.”
How many of them tell the truth?
(A) None (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) All.

5 ABCD is a square whose sides each measure 1. It is D C

inscribed in a circumference γ. Let L, M , N , O be the N
• γ
midpoints of the arcs which are symmetrical to the arcs
_ _ _ _
AB, BC, CD, DA with respect to the sides AB, BC, O• • M
CD, DA.
√ What is the area of the square
√ LM N O? •

2 √ 2 1 L
(A) (B) 2 − 1 (C) 1 − (D) A B
4 √ 2 4
(E) 3 − 2 2.
6 An urn contains N balls (N > 3), numbered from 1 to N . Three ball are
removed from the urn; two of them have numbers which are not multiples of 3,
while the third one does. Now, the probability of choosing a ball with a multiple of
3 is lower than it was originally. Which of the following statements can we deduce?
(A) N is a multiple of 3; (B) N is not a multiple of 3; (C) N is even;
(D) N is odd; (E) None of the above.
7 Find the greatest integer n with the following property: there exist n positive
integers a1 , . . . , an such for every ai and aj , i 6= j, neither ai + aj nor ai − aj are
10

divisible by 100.
(A) 49 (B) 50 (C) 51 (D) 99 (E) 100.
8 The small, but priceless Dodecahedral Diamond is placed in a rectangular room
whose south and north walls are 4 m long, while the east and west walls are 3 m
long. The diamond is 2 m away from the south wall and 3 m from the west wall.
A thief lowers himself from the ceiling, and reaches the floor 1 m away from the
south wall and one m away from the west wall. He immediately realizes that he
must deactivate the alarm system, by cutting a wire which runs along all four
walls, and he has to act quickly. From his starting position, he must reach a point
on any of the walls, and from there he must reach the diamond. What is the
shortest distance
√ he must√cover in order
√ to accomplish
√ this? √
(A) 3 + 2 (B) 2 + 5 (C) 17 (D) 13 (E) 2 2.
9 How many integers n are there whose representation in base 2 is the same as
the representation in base 3 of 2n?
(A) None (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) more than 2, but finitely many
(E) infinitely many.
10 Alice, Bob and Charles are playing cards. After each hand, the winner gains 2
points, while the other two player each lose one point. They both begin with a
score of 0. What is the probability that, after 10 hands, they all have 0 points
again?
10

 10
1 1 2
(A) 0 (B) (C) (D) 610 (E) 1 − .
5 3 3 3
11 On the Island Kennontchè, all the 2009 inhabitants belong to one of three
clans: the knights, who always tell the truth, the knaves, who always lie, and the
pages who tell the truth one day and lie the next, each independently from the
others. One day I asked all the inhabitants how many knaves there were on the
island. The first said, “there is at least one knave.” The second said, “there are at
least two knaves,” and so on, until the last said, “there are at least 2009 knaves.”
I wrote down the answers on a list, in order. The following day, I repeated the
same process (though not necessarily in the same order), and obtained the exact
same list of answers. I also know that there is only one knight on the island. How
many pages are there?
(A) None (B) 670 (C) 1004 (D) 1338 (E) 1339.
12 Frank wants to write the polynomial x16 + x as a product of polynomials with
integer coefficients with degree greater than or equal to one. What is the
maximum number of factors Frank can obtain?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5.
n!
13 Find the greatest positive integer k such that k 2 divides for every
(n − 6)!
n > 6.
 11

14 Let x be the smallest solution of x2 − 4x + 2 = 0. What are the digits in the

first three decimal places of x + x2 + x3 + · · · + x2009 ?
15 a) What is the least positive integer c such that there exists at least one pair
(a, b) of distinct positive integers such that 2c2 = a2 + b2 ?
b) Show that there exist infinitely many triples (a, b, c) of distinct positive integers
such that 2c2 = a2 + b2 .
16 Let ABC be a right triangle, where CAB is the right angle and AC is the longer
cathetus. Let M be the midpoint of BC, N the point symmetrical to A with respect
to BC, and O the intersection of the line perpendicular to M N passing through N
and the line which contains BC.
a) Show that the angle OM N is twice the angle ACB.
b) Let H be the foot of the altitude with the hypothenuse of ABC as base. Show
that the ratio of the area of M N O to the area ABC is a fourth of the ratio of the
length of BC to the length of HM .
2 · 5m + 10 9m + 1
17 Find all the positive integers m such that and are integer.
3m + 1 5m + 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
D B A C E B C D C A D E 12 414

Sketch of proof of 15: The numbers a and is the same as that of the bases OM and BC be-
b have the same parity; so let xa,b = a−b 2
and cause the respective altitudes are equal. Since
OM MN
ya,b = a+b in order to write 2c2 = 2x2 + 2y 2 . BC = 2M N and M N
= M H
, one then sees
2
So the triples (c, a, b) are as many as those that
(c, xa,b , ya,b ) which are the pythagorean triples, OM OM MN BC
and the requested least positive integer is the = = = .
BC 2M N 2M H 4M H
same as the least positive integer for which there
are x and y such that c2 = x2 + y 2 .
Sketch of proof of 17: If the fractions
2(5m +5) m
3m +1
and 95m +1
+5
are integer, then so is their
Sketch of proof of 16: The midpoint M 2(9m +1) 3 m
is the centre of the circumcircle of the triangle product 3m +1
= 2(3m + 1) − 4 3m +1
. This
3m
ABC. The angles OM \ \
N and BM A are equal is an integer if and only if a = 4 3m +1
is an in-
m
by symmetry, and the latter insists on the same teger. But 12 < 3m 3
< 1, hence a can only
+1
[
arc as ACB. be 3, which happens only when m = 1. In this
The ratio of the area of M N O to the area ABC case, one checks that the two given numbers are
intergers, in fact 5 and 1 respectively.
XXV Olimpiadi Italiane della Matematica
Cesenatico, 8 May 2009
1 Let a < b < c < d < e be real numbers. Computing the 10 sums of pairs of these
numbers, the least three are 32, 36, 37 while the greatest two are 48 and 51.
Find all possible values of e.
2 Let ABCD be a square with centre O. Construct two isosceles triangles, BCJ
and CDK, each outside ABCD, with bases BC and CD respectively, and congruent
to each other. Let M be the midpoint of CJ.
Prove that the lines OM and BK are perpendicular.
3 A natural number n is said to be nice if it has the following properties:
• its decimal expression has exactly 4 digits;
• the first and the third digit of n are equal;
• the second and the fourth digit of n are equal;
• the product of all digits of n is a divisor of n2 .
Find all the nice numbers.
4 A flea is initially at the point (0, 0) of the Euclidean plane. It then takes n
jumps. Each jump taken is in any of the four cardinal directions (north, east, south
or west). The first jump has length 1, the second jump has length 2, the third jump
has length 4, and so on, the nth jump has length 2n−1 .
Prove that, if the final position of the flea is known, then the whole path of the flea
is completely determined, i.e. the position of the flea after any of the n jumps is
uniquely determined.
5 Let ABC be a scalene and acute-angled triangle. Let Γ be the circumcircle of
ABC, let K be the intersection of the bisector of BAC
\ with BC, and let M be
the midpoint of the arc BC on Γ which contains A. The line M K meets Γ also
at A0 and the two tangents to Γ at A and A0 intersect at T . The line through A,
perpendicular to AK, and the line through A0 , perpendicular to A0 K, intersect at
R.
Prove that the points T , R and K are collinear.
6 A natural number k is said to be n-squared if, for every colouring of the squares
in a chessboard of size 2n × k with n colours, there are 4 squares with the same
colour whose centres are the vertices of a rectangle with sides parallel to the sides
of the chessboard.
For any given n, find the smallest natural number k which is n-squared.
14

Solution to 1: Clearly 32 must be a + b, similarly 36 = a + c, 48 = c + e and

51 = d + e. From these, one finds that c − b = 4, d − c = 3, and d − b = 7. So a + d =
(a+b)+(d−b) = 39, hence 37 must be b+c. Thus, 2a = (a+b)+(a+c)−(b+c) = 31,
which yields a = 15.5, b = 16.5, and c = 20.5, e = 27.5, d = 23.5. One checks that
these values actually give the five original sums in the prescribed order. Hence the
possibile values of e are only one.
Solution to 2: Since O is the midpoint of AC and M is the midpoint of CJ, the
lines OM and AJ are parallel. Since BJ and CK are congruent, as are AB and
CB and the angles ABJ
[ and BCK,\ respectively, the triangles ABJ and BCK are
congruent. Thus JAB = KBC and JAB
[ \ [ and KBA\ are complementary.

Solution to 3: A nice number is of the form n = 101(10a + b) for 1 ≤ a, b ≤ 9,

where b cannot be zero as 0 6 | n2 . Since (ab)2 | n2 , it is also ab | n. Since 101 is
prime, the first condition yields that

a, b | ab | 10a + b.

So a | b, because a 1 0a. Similarly, b | 10a. The only possibilities are:

• b = a: so a2 1 1a, or a | 11 which gives a = b = 1

• b = 2a: so 2a2 | 12a, or a 6 which gives (a, b) = (1, 2), (2, 4), (3, 6)
• b = 5a: so 5a2 | 15a, or a 3 which gives a = 1, b = 5.

Each pair of digits produces a number which is nice. Hence these are 1111, 1212,
2424, 3636, 1515.
Solution to 4: Let (0, 0), (x1 , y1 ), . . . , (xn−1P
, yn−1 ) be the list of points where the
flea jumps. For every k < n, it is |xk |+|yk | ≤ i=0 k − 12i = 2k −1. In other words,
after k jumps, the flea is within the boundary of the square Qk with vertices (0, 2k ),
(2k , 0), (0, −2k ), and (−2k , 0). Hence the point (xk+1 , yk+1 ) is within the boundary
of the translate of Qk by one of the vectors (0, 2k ), (2k , 0), (0, −2k ), or (−2k , 0),
depending on the direction of the jump (east, north, west, south, respectively). But
the interiors of the four translates are pairwise disjoint. Hence the position after
the (k + 1)th jump completely determines the direction in which it was taken.
Solution to 5: Let O be the centre of Γ and let M N be the diamater through M
so that N is the midpoint of the arc CB containing A0 . Since M is the midpoint of
the arc BAC, and AK is the bisector of CAB,
\

2BAK
\ + 2M
\ AB = BAC
\ + 2M
\ \ + π − CM
CB = BAC \ B = π.

Hence BAK
\+M \ AB = π2 , and M is on the line RA, and N is the intersection of
the lines AK and RA0 . Thus K is the orthocentre of the triangle M RN and the
 15

points A, A0 , R, and K lie on the same circumference of diamater RK. The centre
of the circumference is T since AT = A0 T and the triangle AT K is isosceles, indeed

\ = π − OAK
KAT \=N \MA = N
\ BA = CBA
\+N \BC = CBA
\+N AC
\
2
\ \
\ + BAC = CBA
\ − BAC = CBA
T
\ KA = π − ACB 2
\+N \AC 2

Solution to 6: We shall show that 2n2 − n + 1 is the least positive integer which
is n-squuared.
First, on a chessboard with squares on 2n columns and k rows with n colours,
call vertical pair a pair of squares on the same column with the same colour. In
each column, there are at least n vertical pairs, since at most n can be coloured
differently, and the colour on each of the remaining n squares must match oen of
those. Hence, on the chessboard, there are at least nk vertical pairs. If C is the
total number of vertical pairs, and ci is the number of vertical pairs of colour i, then
C = c1 + c2 +
. . . + cn ≥ nk. Therefore, there is a colour i0 such that i0 ≥ k.
There are 2n n = 2n2 − n possible configurations for a vertical pair in a column.
Hence, if k ≥ 2n2 − n + 1, there must be two vertical pairs of colour i0 in the same
configuration on diffrent columns, which provide a rectangle as required to make k
n-squared.
Next, we show that 2n2 − n is not n-squared (hence any smaller number k). In order
to do that, we shall colour a 2n × (2n2 − n) chessboard with n colours in such a way
that there are no two vertical pairs of the same colour in the same configuration. To
achieve that, it is enough to produce a “reduced” chessboard of size 2n × (2n − 1)
with exactly one vertical pair for each configuration. Repeating the construction,
and rotating the colour, we obtain n − 1 other reduced chessboard which joined side
by side will produce the required 2n × (2n2 − n) chessboard.
To prepare the reduced chessboard, look at it as if the rows are players in a tour-
nament and the columns are the turns, vertical pairs are the games between two
players. The required conditions become exactly that the tournament be a round-
robin where each player plays exactly one game at each turn (This can be obtained
by placing 2n − 1 players 1, 2,. . . ,2n − 1, on the vertices of a polygon. On the
k th turn, the games are between the pair of vertices on the same parallel diagonals
which leave out the vertex k. That player plays with player 2n.)
Italian Team Selection Test
Pisa, 29-30 May 2009
Day 1
1 Let n and k be integers such that n ≥ k ≥ 1. There are n light bulbs placed in a
circle. They are all turned off. Each turn, you can change the state of any set of k
consecutive light bulbs.
How many of the 2n possible combinations can be reached
(a) if k is an odd prime?
(b) if k is an odd integer?
(c) if k is an even integer?
2 Let ABC be an equilateral triangle.
(a) Find the locus X of points P of the plane on which ABC lies such that there
exists a (non-degenerate) triangle whose sides have lengths equal to P A, P B,
P C.
(b) Find the locus of points P ∈ X for which the area of the previously mentioned
triangle is equal to 1/3 of the area of ABC.
3 Find all the pairs of integers (x, y) such that

y 3 = 8x6 + 2x3 y − y 2 .

Day 2
4 Let n be a even positive integer, and let p(x) be a monic polynomial with integral
coefficients of degree n with n real solutions, not necessarily distinct. Let y be a
positive real number such that p(x) > 0 for every x < y.
Show that p p
n
p(0) − n p(y) ≥ y.

5 Let M and N be the intersection of two circumferences, Γ1 and Γ2 . Let AB be

the line tangent to both circumferences closer to M , say A ∈ Γ1 and B ∈ Γ2 . Let
C be the point symmetrical to A with respect to M , and D the point symmetrical
to B with respect to M . Let E and F be the intersections of the circumference
circumscribed around DCM and the circumferences Γ1 and Γ2 , respectively.
Show that the circumferences circumscribed around the triangles M EF and N EF
have radii of the same length.
6 Merlin and Morgan le Fay decide to have a magic duel. They take turns casting
magic spells against each other (a magic spell is any sequence of letters of finite
length which contains at least one letter). They must follow these rules:
• whoever begins can cast any spell;
• no spell can be repeated during the duel;
 17

• they must answer each spell with a spell obtained either by anagramming the
previous spell or by removing one of its letters;
• the first that has no possible spells to cast loses.
(a) If Merlin opens with “STAGEPREIMO”, which of the two has a winning strat-
egy?
(b) Let M be the set of all the spells which only contain the letters A, B, C, and D,
and use each letter at least once, and such that Merlin has a winning strategy if he
uses one to begin the duel. Determine whether there are any elements of M with
2009 letter, and, if there are, find the first of these elements in alphabetical order.