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

getto Olimpiadi della Matematica”, organizes the selection process of the Italian
team for the International Mathematical Olympiad. The program is sponsored by
the Italian Ministry of Public Education (Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione) and
is actively supported by a large number of mathematics teachers throughout the
country. The selection process consists of four steps:
1. I giochi di Archimede: this is a popular competition (with about 300,000 par-
ticipants) held in November. The students take the test in their own schools.
It consists of 16 to 20 multiple choice questions, which are meant to be suit-
able for a large number of students and mainly require ingenuity rather than
technical ability. This competition has two levels: junior (ages 14-16) and
senior (ages 16-19).
2. Gara di secondo livello: this competition is held in February in about one hun-
dred locations in Italy. Only the best students from “I giochi di Archimede”
are admitted. The test contains three kinds of problems: multiple choice ques-
tions, problems that require 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 three day event, but the competition
itself is held on just one day. The test contains 6 problems that require a
mathematical proof. At the end there is an award ceremony in the style of
the IMO.
4. Practice for the Team Selection: the best 25 students from the previous level
are invited to a week long practice, usually held at the end of May. The
practice ends with the Team Selection Test, a two day competition in the
style of the Olympiads.
This booklet collects all the problems given during the selection process for the 2015
I.M.O. in Chiang Mai. For the problems in the first two sections we only include
the answers and some sketches of the required proofs. We provide full solutions for
all the problems from the “Olimpiadi Italiane di Matematica”.

Pisa, 18 June 2015 Roberto Dvornicich

chairman of the Committee
Progetto Olimpiadi della Matematica
I Giochi di Archimede
27 November 2014
Problems for junior students
1 The town of Gnallucci has four types of coins: doubloons, sequins, thalers, and
fufignezi. A doubloon is worth the same as a sequin plus a thaler and a fufignezo.
Two doubloons are worth the same as a sequin plus three thalers and five fufignezi.
A man walks into a shop with one sequin and leaves with one thaler. How many
fufignezi did he pay?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5
2 What is (1, 3̄) · (0, 3̄)?
13
(A) 0, 4 (B) 0, 43̄ (C) 0, 4̄ (D) 33 (E) none of the above
3 Duckburg is 4 hours away from Mouseton. Donald Duck leaves Duckburg at 4 am
locally, and, due to changing time zones, arrives in Mouseton at lunchtime (locally).
At what time will he return to Duckburg if he leaves two hours later?
(A) 12 pm (B) 2 pm (C) 3 pm (D) 4 pm
(E) it depends on when they eat lunch in Mouseton

4 A parallelogram is made by gluing four equi-

lateral triangles of side length 10 cm as shown B
in the figure. What is the distance in cm be-
tween A and B? √ √ A
(A) 25
√ (B) 675 (C) 700
(D) 825 (E) 30
5 The numbers a, b, and c are integers such that a2 bc = 1. Which of the following
statements is necessarily true?
(A) a = 1 e b = 1 (B) a = −1 e c = 1 (C) b2 ac = 1 (D) a2 b2 = 1
(E) a 6= 1
6 In a certain company, each supervisor is paid four times as much as each worker.
The total amount spent by the factory to pay all its employees is equal to six times
the amount spent to pay its supervisors. How many workers are there for each
supervisor?
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 20 (D) 24 (E) 30
7 At a theme park, there is a vending machine with two buttons and one container:
the first button releases 16 marbles into the container, while the second increases
the number of marbles in the container by 50%. After inserting a coin, you can
press one of the two buttons. If the container starts out empty, what is the greatest
amount of marbles you can buy with 5 coins?
(A) 70 (B) 80 (C) 88 (D) 96 (E) 108
8 Agata, Nina, and Leo decide that at the word “Go!” each of them will throw (at
random) rock, paper, or scissors. What is the probability that all three will throw
2

the same sign?

1 1 1 1 1
(A) Less than 12 (B) between 12 and 10 (C) between 10 and 8
1 1 1
(D) between 8 and 6 (E) more than 6

9 Given a regular pentagon of side length 1 cm, find the area (in cm2 ) of the set of
points on the plane that lie outside the pentagon at a distance from it of 1 cm at
most.
(A) (5 + π) (B) (3/2 + 2π) (C) 7 (D) 8 (E) 3π

10 Eight players, four defenders and four attackers, organise a table football tour-
nament. Every possible pair of defender and attacker plays against every other
possible pair of defender and attacker once and only once. How many matches will
they play?
(A) 24 (B) 36 (C) 48 (D) 72 (E) 144

11 A three digit prime number has digits a, b, c, in order. How many prime divisors
will the six digit number written as abcabc in decimal notation have?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

12 The square shown in the figure is divided into 9

small congruent squares. The side of the larger square
is L. Find the area marked in grey.
11 2
(A) 108 L (B) 91 L2 (C) 54 5 2
L (D) 121 2
L
13 2
(E) 81 L

13 How many digits does the number 2010 have?

(A) 10 (B) 11 (C) 13 (D) 14 (E) 15

14 There are three circles of radius length 1 cm tangent to

one another as shown in the figure. Find the area in cm2
of the shape formed by the circles, marked in grey in the
figure.√ √
(A) ( 3 − π2 ) (B) 3 (C) 3 (D) π2 (E) π

15 A student on a field trip wakes up and, from his room in a seven-storey hotel
(aside from the ground floor), takes the elevator to the ground floor to eat breakfast.
However, he is still very sleepy, so he keeps pressing the wrong button until he has
visited all other floors (except for his) exactly once before finally reaching the ground
floor. His room is not on the ground floor. How many floors did the elevator travel
across, at most?
(A) 29 floors (B) 28 floors (C) 27 floors (D) 26 floors (E) 25 floors
 3

16 Francesco wants to plants seeds in an area of his

garden, which has the shape shown in the figure (the
house is the grey shape with the garden around it
shown in white). To do so, he ties a 2 m rope at the 3m
1m
corner A of the house, pulls it tight, and by moving its
free end he draws the perimeter of the area to sow in. A
1m
2m
What is this area, in m2 ? √
√ 3
√
3
(A) 2π + 3 (B) 15 π − (C) 31
π +
√4 2 12 2
9 3
(D) 4 π (E) 4π − 2 − 1

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

Problems for senior students

1 The town of Gnallucci has four types of coins: doubloons, sequins, thalers, and
fufignezi. A doubloon is worth the same as a sequin plus a thaler and a fufignezo.
Two doubloons are worth the same as a sequin plus three thalers and five fufignezi.
A man walks into a shop with one sequin and leaves with one thaler. How many
fufignezi did he pay?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5
2 The equation x2 + bx + c = 0 is such that c < 0. Then it is necessarily true that:
(A) the equation has no real roots
(B) the equation has two real roots that coincide
(C) the equation has a positive real root and a negative real root
(D) the equation has two positive real roots
(E) the equation has two negative real roots
√
3 A parallelogram has a perimeter length of P = 8 cm and its area is A = 4 2
cm2 . What is the measure of its acute angle?
(A) 30◦ (B) 45◦ (C) 60◦ (D) there is no such parallelogram
(E) the angle is not uniquely determined by the given data
4 Thirteen friends play a board game. To play this game, each player is given some
sestertii, so that the first player receives one sestertium, and each of the following
players gets a number of sestertii equal to twice the number of those given to the
previous player. There are a total of 10000 sestertii. How many sestertii will remain
in the bank once all players have received their share?
(A) 0 (B) 32 (C) 205 (D) 951 (E) 1809
5 In a certain company, each supervisor is paid four times as much as each worker.
The total amount spent by the factory to pay all its employees is equal to six times
the amount spent to pay its supervisors. How many workers are there for each
supervisor?
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 20 (D) 24 (E) 30
6 Which of the following
√ numbers is an integer?
(A) 0,002 · 100 + 11025 (B) 32 · 3 · 1,6 (C) (8, 2)2 − (1, 8)2
√ 34 5
(D) ( 2 + 1)2 (E) + √
1,02 6 0,0001
7 Consider an equilateral triangle T , and let G be its centroid. Color all the points
inside the triangle such that its distance from G is less than or equal to its distance
from any of the three vertices red. What is the ratio of the red area to the area of
T? √ √
(A) 13 (B) 14 (C) 23 (D) 93 (E) 33
8 The equation 2x4 + 5x3 − 21x2
+ 5x + 2 = 0 has 4 real solutions a, b, c, d. What
is a + b + c + d − a1 + 1b + 1c + d1 ?
(A) −7 (B) 21 5 (C) 1021 (D) 52 (E) 0
 5

9 Eight players, four defenders and four attackers, organise a table football tour-
nament. Every possible pair of defender and attacker plays against every other
possible pair of defender and attacker once and only once. How many matches will
they play?
(A) 24 (B) 36 (C) 48 (D) 72 (E) 144
10 A three digit prime number has digits a, b, c, in order. How many prime divisors
will the six digit number written as abcabc in decimal notation have?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

11 The square shown in the figure is divided into 9 small

congruent squares. The side of the larger square is L. Find
the area marked in grey.
11 2
(A) 108 L (B) 91 L2 (C) 545 2
L (D) 121 2
L
13 2
(E) 81 L
12 If x + x1 = 5, what is x3 + x13 ?
(A) 105 (B) 110 (C) 115 (D) 120 (E) 125
13 A student on a field trip wakes up and, from his room in a seven-storey hotel
(aside from the ground floor), takes the elevator to the ground floor to eat breakfast.
However, he is still very sleepy, so he keeps pressing the wrong button until he has
visited all other floors (except for his) exactly once before finally reaching the ground
floor. His room is not on the ground floor. How many floors did the elevator travel
across, at most?
(A) 29 piani (B) 28 piani (C) 27 piani (D) 26 piani (E) 25 piani

14 Francesco wants to plants seeds in an area of his

garden, which has the shape shown in the figure (the
house is the grey shape with the garden around it
shown in white). To do so, he ties a 2 m rope at the 3m
1m
corner A of the house, pulls it tight, and by moving its
free end he draws the perimeter of the area to sow in. A
1m
2m
What is this area, in m2 ? √
√ √
(A) 2π + 3 (B) 15 π − 23 (C) 31 12 π + 2
3
√4
(D) 49 π (E) 4π − 23 − 1
15 The positive integer n is such that the polynomial

1 − 2x + 3x2 − 4x3 + 5x4 − · · · − 2014x2013 + nx2014

has at least one integer solution. What is n?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 2014 (D) 2015 (E) none of the above
6

16 Let ABC be a right triangle with legs of lengths AC = 2m

and BC = 1m. Consider the circle that is tangent to the
hypothenuse and to the lines that contain AC and BC and r
lies outside the triangle ABC: what is the length of its radius B
r in m?√ √ √ √
(A) 1+2 5 (B) 5 (C) 3+2 5 (D) 5 (E) 2+2 5
C A
17 Simone has a lucky √ charm in the shape of a regular tetrahedron, the faces of
3
which have side length
√ 6 2 cm. What is√the volume of
√ the tetrahedron in cm ?
(A) 36 (B) 36 2 (C) 72 (D) 72 2 (E) 72 3
18 An artist has made a stone sculpture in the shape of a strange polyhedron.
The surface of the sculpture is made of 31 triangular faces, 18 quadrangular faces,
11 pentagonal faces, and 7 hexagonal faces. How many edges does this polyhedron
have?
(A) 65 (B) 94 (C) 100 (D) 123 (E) 131
19 This time of the year, it often rains when Luca walks home from school: the
probability of this happening is 25 . Because of this, Luca finds it prudent to take an
umbrella, but sometimes he forgets; the probability of Luca forgetting his umbrella
is 21 each day. What is the probability that Luca will not get wet while walking
home for three consecutive days?
(A) less than 16 (B) between 61 and 13 (C) between 13 and 21
(D) between 12 and 23 (E) greater than 65

20 An equilateral triangle ABC of side length 1 m C

is divided into two parts of equal area by the line
segment DE parallel to AB, as shown in the figure;
similarly, is is divided into two parts of equal area by F
the line segment GF parallel to BC. What is the D E
length of the segment √DF ?
√ √
(A) ( 2 − 1) (B) 22 (C) (1 − 23 )
√
(D) 33 (E) 12 A G B

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
C C D E C C C E D D A B B C E C C E D A
Gara di secondo livello
19 February 2015
1 A natural number is said to be a palindrome if it remains the same when its base
10 digits are read from right to left (for instance, 68386 and 44 are palindromes,
while 220 is not). We know that the natural numbers x and x + 312 are both
palindromes; x has four digits, while x + 312 has five digits. What is the sum of the
digits of x?
(A) 30 (B) 31 (C) 32 (D) 33 (E) 34
2 A sequence of real numbers a1 , . . . , a100 is such that the arithmetic mean of any
two consecutive terms is always equal to the index of the second term (e.g., we have
a4 +a5
2 = 5). What is the sum of the 100 terms in the sequence?
(A) 2550 (B) 5050 (C) 5100 (D) 10100
(E) It cannot be determined: it depends on a1 .
3 Let ABCDE be a regular pentagon with side length 1, and let P be the inter-
section between √ the diagonals AC and BE. How long is the segment P C?
5 √ √
(A) 1 (B) (C) 5 − 1 (D) 4( 5 − 2) (E) None of the above.
2
4 An ant is walking on the keypad of a mobile phone, made
up of 10 keys arranged as in the picture. The ant always moves
from a key to one that is horizontally or vertically adjacent; it
starts on the ‘1’ key and wanders around the keypad, eventually
coming to a stop on the ‘0’ key, which it had never visited
before. Consider the number n obtained concatenating the
digits on the keys the ant has touched in the order it visited
them (the path drawn in the picture would give the number 12580). How many of
the four following statements are necessarily true?
- “n is not a multiple of 3”;
- “n is not a multiple of 8”;
- “n contains an odd number of digits”;
- “n is not a perfect square”.
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4
5 Two polynomials p(x) and q(x) with integral coefficients are monic (i.e. their
leading coefficient is equal to 1) and such that their greatest common divisor is
(x − 1)(x − 2), their least common multiple is (x − 1)2 (x − 2)3 (x − 3)(x + 1), and
the degree of p(x) is less than or equal to the degree of q(x). How many possible
choices are there for the polynomial p(x)?
(A) 4 (B) 5 (C) 8 (D) 10 (E) 12
6 Given a triangle ABC, let A0 be the symmetric point of A with respect to C, A00
the reflection of A with respect to B, B 0 the reflection B with respect to A, B 00 the
reflection of B with respect to C, C 0 the reflection of C with respect to B and C 00
8

the reflection of C with respect to A. What is the ratio of the area of A0 B 0 C 0 to the
area of the hexagon A0 A00 C 0 C 00 B 0 B 00 ?
6 7 3 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) It depends on ABC
13 13 7 2
7 How many 4-tuples of non-negative integers (a, b, c, d) are such that the three
expressions a2 − c2 , b2 − d2 and ab + bc + cd + da are all equal to 1024?
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 9 (E) 11
8 Let ABC be a triangle with a right angle in A, and let BCDE be the square
built on the hypotenuse (with D, E on the opposite side of A with respect to BC).
If the areas of the triangles ABE and ACD are 6 m2 and 27 m2 respectively, what
is the √
area of the triangle ABC? √
(A) 3 2 m2 (B) 6 m2 (C) 12 m2 (D) 9 2 m2 (E) 18 m2
9 A piece is initially positioned on the central square of a 5 × 5 checkerboard. We
say the piece takes a step if it moves to a square randomly selected among those
that share exactly one vertex with the square it is currently occupying. What is
the probability that after 12 steps the piece is in any of the corner squares of the
checkerboard?
1 4 1 4 1
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)
3 25 6 13 4
10 Caboyara, a famous Australian circus artist, performs an amazing trick this
year. He prepares a spectacular ladder with N = p1 · p2 · . . . · p2015 steps, where
p1 , p2 , . . . , p2015 are distinct primes; steps that correspond to a divisor of N (includ-
ing the first and N -th steps) are special and initially emit a green light.
During the performance, 2015 trained kangaroos climb the ladder one after the
other; for i = 1, 2, . . . , 2015, the i-th kangaroo jumps pi steps at a time, starting at
the foot of the ladder (it first jumps on step pi , then on step 2pi , and so on, until it
reaches step N ). Every time a kangaroo jumps on a special step, the step changes
colours: its light turns from green to red, or from red to green.
How many of the special steps will be green at the end of the performance?
(A) 22015 − 21008 (B) 22014 (C) 22014 − 21007 (D) 22013
1008
(E) 2015 · 2
11 Giovanni draws a regular 9-agon with his pencil and joins each of its vertices
to the center, thus drawing a total of 18 segments and obtaining nine triangles. He
then retraces some of the segments with his pen, so that in the end each of the nine
triangles has exactly one edge that has been retraced with the pen. How many ways
are there for Giovanni to choose the set of segments to retrace? (Note that two sets
of segments obtained from each other by rotation or symmetry are still considered
distinct.)
(A) 49 (B) 65 (C) 74 (D) 76 (E) 85
12 Let ABCD be a quadrilateral such that AB = 24, BC = 20, CD = 15, DA = 7,
BD = 25. What is the length of AC?
 9

√
(A) 18 (B) 14 2 (C) 20 (D) 21 (E) 24
p
4
13 What does 220 + 227 + 231 + 232 + 237 + 240 evaluate to?
14 A flea is initially positioned on a vertex of a regular polygon with 2015 edges;
the flea makes a series of counterclockwise jumps: with the first jump it moves by
one vertex (from the initial vertex to the next), with the second one by three, with
the third by five, and so on, so that the n-th jump spans 2n − 1 edges, always in a
counterclockwise direction. After how many jumps will the flea happen for the first
time to land on a vertex it has visited before?
15 Camilla has a box with 2015 paperclips. She takes a positive number n of
paperclips from the box and moves them onto Federica’s desk, challenging her to
the following game.
Federica may employ moves of two kinds: she can either remove 3 paperclips from
the pile on her desk (provided that the pile contains at least three), or she can
remove half the paperclips present on the desk (provided that the pile has an even
number of paperclips). Federica wins the game if she manages to remove all of the
paperclips from her desk by playing a sequence of moves described above.
(a) For how many of the 2015 possible values of n can Federica win the game?
(b) After a while the girls change the victory condition of the game: now Federica
wins if and only if she manages to leave exactly one paperclip on her desk.
For how many of the 2015 possible values of n can Federica win the game
according to the new rule?

16 Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral such that AB = AC = AD and BC < CD.

The bisector of ∠BAD intersects CD internally in M , while it meets the extension
of side BC in N . Prove the following statements:
(a) the quadrilateral ABCM can be inscribed in a circumference;
(b) the triangles AN B and ABM are similar.

17 Let n be a positive integer and let 1 = d1 < d2 < d3 < . . . < dk = n be its
positive divisors, in increasing order. We know that k ≥ 4 and that d23 +d24 = 2n+1.
(a) Determine all possible values of k.
(b) Determine all possible values of n.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
E C A D C B B D E B D C 1056 48

Sketch of proof of 15: (a) A winning strat-
egy ends with a move of the first kind. Federica
wins if and only if n is a multiple of 3.
(b) This is exactly the opposite situation of (a).
Federica wins if and only if n is not a multiple
of 3, by removing three paperclips as often as
possible, then possibly applying a move of the
second kind.
Sketch of proof of 16: (a) Note that
∠ABC = ∠BCA, ∠ACD = ∠CDA, and
∠BAM = ∠DAM . Hence ∠BAM + ∠BCM =
10

180◦ . is a divisor. Hence k = 6.

(b) ∠N BA = ∠CBA = ∠ACB; also ∠ACB =
∠AM B by (a). (b) From (a), n = d3 d4 , so d4 − d3 = 1 from
the last hypothesis. Either d3 or d4 = dn is
3

√ of proof of 17:
Sketch (a) Note that even. So either d3 = 4 or d4 is even with only
d3 < n < d4 and for any divisor d, also n
d
non-trivial divisor 2.
XXXI Olimpiadi Italiane della Matematica
Cesenatico, 8 May 2015
1 Let ABCDA0 B 0 C 0 D0 be a rectangular parallelepiped. ABCD is its base, with
its vertices in clockwise order; A, B, C, and D are below A0 , B 0 , C 0 , and D0 ,
respectively. The parallelepiped is divided into eight parts by three planes parallel
to its faces. For each vertex P of the parallelepiped, let VP denote the volume of the
part of the parallelepiped containing P . Given that VA = 40, VC = 300, VB 0 = 360
and VC 0 = 90, find the volume of the parallelepiped ABCDA0 B 0 C 0 D0 .
2 A music streaming service offers songs that are classified in 10 genres, so that
every song belongs to exactly one genre. The service plays songs one after the other;
the first 17 songs are chosen by the listener, but starting from the 18th song the
service automatically determines the next song to be played. Elizabeth noticed that
these new songs always belong to the leading genre in the last 17 songs played (that
is, the genre which has been played the most times out of the last 17 songs); in case
of a tie between two or more genres, the new song may belong to any one of them.
Prove that, for any given choice of the first 17 songs, from a certain point on all
songs played belong to the same genre.
3 Let ABC be a triangle, and let K be the foot of the bisector relative to BC and
J be the foot of the trisectrix relative to BC that is closer to AC (i.e., J is the point
on BC such that 3 · ∠CAJ = ∠CAB). Let C 0 and B 0 be two points on the line
AJ, on the same side as J with respect to A, such that AC 0 = AC and AB = AB 0 .
Prove that the quadrilateral ABB 0 C is cyclic if and only if the lines C 0 K and B 0 B
are parallel.
4 Find all pairs (a, b) of integers such that a3 + b3 + 3ab = 1.
5 Let Γ be a circle, AB be a chord of Γ, C be a point on AB, and r be a line
through C such that the intersection points D and E of r and Γ lie on opposite
sides of the perpendicular bisector of AB. Let ΓD be the circle externally tangent
to Γ in D and tangent to AB in a point F , and ΓE be the circle externally tangent
to Γ in E and tangent to AB in a point G. Prove that CA = CB if and only if
CF = CG.
6 Ada and Charles play the following game. At the beginning, they write an
integer n > 1 on a blackboard. Then Ada and Charles take turns erasing the
number k they find on the blackboard and replacing it with either
1: a positive divisor of k different from 1 and k
2: k + 1.
At the beginning, the players have a thousand points each. When a player chooses
move 1, they gain one point; when a player chooses move 2, they lose one point.
The game ends when one of the two players is left with zero points, thus losing the
game. Ada moves first. For what values of n does Charles has a winning strategy?
 13

Solution to 1: Let x, y, z be the distances of A from the three cutting planes,

and x0 , y 0 , z 0 the distances of C 0 from the same planes, so that x + x0 = AB, y + y 0 =
AD, z + z 0 = AA0 .
When two parts share a face, the two volumes are in proportion with their respective
heights, and we therefore obtain:

y VB 0 VB z 10 VC x VA
=4= = , = = , = .
y0 VC 0 VC z0 3 VC 0 x0 VB

From the first equation we find that VB = 4VC = 1200, which combined with the
1
last shows that xx0 = 30 . Calling V the volume of the parallelepiped, we have:

(x + x0 )(y + y 0 )(z + z 0 )  x  y 
V z  403
= = + 1 + 1 + 1 = ,
VC 0 x0 y 0 z 0 x0 y0 z0 18
403 403
from which follows that V = 18 VC
0 = 18 · 90 = 2015.
Solution to 2: Suppose that the service produces a sequence of 17 consecutive
songs (let’s call them songs k, k + 1, . . . , k + 16) in which a single genre A is strictly
in the majority; then the (k + 17)-th song must necessarily belong to that genre. If
the k-th song also belongs to genre A, the number of songs in each genre does not
change, and therefore A is still strictly in the majority; if the k-th song belongs to a
genre B different from A, the new sequence has one more song belonging to genre A
one less song belonging to genre B, therefore genre A is still strictly in the majority.
It follows that if at one point a genre is strictly in the majority, all the songs played
from that point on will belong to the same genre.
Similarly, we see that if a genre C is in the minority at some point, then it will
remain in the minority from that point on. If the first 17 songs have a genre that
is strictly in the majority, the problem is solved. Otherwise, there must exist a
genre in the minority: if all the genres that appear in the sequence all had the same
number of songs, 17 would be divisible by that number; but since 17 is prime this
would be possible only if there existed 17 different genres (which is impossible, as
there are only 10) or if the sequence contained songs in only one genre, which would
then be strictly in the majority.
Suppose that song i belongs to genre C, which is in the minority among songs
1, . . . , 17; consider the sequence of songs i, i + 1, . . . , i + 16 and suppose it contains
more than one genre tied for the lead (otherwise we would be finished), including
the genre that song i + 17 will belong to: let us call it D; since genre C is in the
minority to begin with, D is different from C. Then the sequence of songs from
i + 1 to i + 17 will have one less song belonging to genre C and one more belonging
to genre D, which will now be strictly in the majority, and all songs from i + 18 on
will belong to it.
Solution to 3: Firstly, let θ = ∠CAJ, so that ∠JAB = 2θ, and ∠JAK = θ/2.
14

If the quadrilateral ABB 0 C is cyclic, then ∠CBB 0 = θ, since it is subtended by

the same arc as the angle ∠CAB 0 ; on the other hand, since ∠AB 0 B = ∠ABB 0 =
(180◦ − 2θ)/2, the angles ∠JBB 0 and ∠BB 0 J are complementary, therefore AJ is
orthogonal to BC. Now, ∠AC 0 C = ∠ACC 0 = (180◦ − θ)/2, therefore ∠JCC 0 =
90◦ − ∠AC 0 C = θ/2. But then ∠C 0 CK = θ/2 = ∠C 0 AK; this implies that the
quadrilateral AKC 0 C is cyclic, and therefore ∠CKC 0 = ∠CAC 0 = θ = ∠CBB 0 .
Since they form corresponding congruent angles with the line BC, the lines C 0 K
and BB 0 must therefore be parallel.
Now suppose that the lines JK and BB 0 are parallel. The corresponding angles
∠AC 0 K and ∠AB 0 B formed with the line AB 0 must be congruent and equal to
(180◦ − 2θ)/2 (since ABB 0 is an isosceles triangle). It follows that ∠KC 0 C =
∠KC 0 A + ∠AC 0 C = 180◦ − 32 θ; therefore ∠KC 0 C is supplementary to ∠CAK, and
the quadrilateral CAKC 0 is cyclic. But then ∠B 0 BC = ∠C 0 KC = ∠C 0 AC = θ
(where the first equation follows from the fact that the lines are parallel, and the
second from the fact that CAKC 0 is cyclic); therefore the quadrilateral CABB 0 is
also cyclic.
Solution to 4: The equation is symmetrical with respect to a and b, so we can
assume a ≥ b without loss of generality. There are no solutions with both a and b
positive: if it were the case, we would have a3 + b3 + 3ab ≥ 1 + 1 + 3 = 5 > 1. If at
least one of a and b is zero, let us say b, then we obtain a3 = 1, so a = 1, from which
we find the solutions (1, 0) and (0, 1). If both a and b are strictly less than 0, then
(still assuming that b ≤ a < 0) we find a3 + b3 + 3ab < b(b2 + 3a); if b ≤ −3, then we
would also have b2 + 3a ≥ −3b + 3a = 3(a − b) ≥ 0 and therefore b(b2 + 3a) would
not be positive. It would follow that a3 + b3 + 3ab < b(b2 + 3a) ≤ 0, and therefore
(a, b) cannot be a solution if b ≤ −3. We must therefore check the cases b = −2
e b = −1, which (remembering that we are still assuming that a < 0) lead to the
unique solution (a, b) = (−1, −1). We now have to find the solutions for a > 0 and
b < 0: let c = −b, so that c is a positive integer. The equation can then be written
as the following two equivalent forms:

3ac + 1 = a3 − c3 , a3 = c3 + 3ac + 1; (1)

from the second equation we find that a > c, and from the first we find 3ac + 1 =
(a − c)(c2 + ca + a2 ). Since a − c ≥ 1, we have

3ac + 1 = (a − c)(c2 + ca + a2 ) ≥ c2 + ca + a2 ,

from which follows that 1 ≥ c2 − 2ca + a2 , and therefore (a − c)2 ≤ 1. Since we have
already seen that a − c is positive, we have a − c = 1, and substituting a = c + 1
into (1) we find
c3 + 3c2 + 3c + 1 = c3 + 3c(c + 1) + 1,
which is true for any value of c. Remembering that at the beginning we assumed
a ≥ b, we then see that the solutions to the equation are the pair (a, b) = (−1, −1)
 15

and the infinite pairs (a, b) = (a, −c) = (c + 1, −c) for any integer c: those with
c ≥ 0 are such that a ≥ b, and those with c < 0 are the corresponding ones with
a < b.
Alternate solution: Note that

a3 + b3 − 1 + 3ab = a3 + b3 + (−1)3 − 3ab · (−1) = (a + b − 1)(a2 + b2 + 1 − ab + a + b),

so the pairs of the form (n, 1 − n) are solutions for every integer n.
Multiplying the second factor by 4, we obtain

4a2 + 4b2 + 4 − 4ab + 4a + 4b = (2a − b + 1)2 + 3(b + 1)2 ,

which is a sum of two squares and therefore is only zero when (2a−b+1) = (b+1) = 0;
that is, when a = b = −1.
Solution to 5: Suppose that CA = CB. Let O be the center of Γ, r the radius
Γ, and let M, N be, respectively, the intersection points of the line AB and the line
tangent to ΓD at D and to ΓE at E.
The quadrilaterals DM CO and EN OC are cyclic, since ∠M CO = ∠M DO = 90◦
e ∠N CO = ∠N EO = 90◦ (note that it is not important that C, D (or, respectively
C, E) are on the same or on opposite sides of M O (or, respectively, N O), since two
90◦ angels are both equal and supplementary).
Now let γ = ∠M CD = ∠N CE. Because the quadrilaterals DM CO and EN OC
are cyclic, we have that ∠M OD = ∠N OE = γ. It follows that the right triangles
M OD and N OE are similar and have two equal legs (OD = OE = r), and are
therefore congruent. So M D = N E and M O = N O.
Now M D and M F are tangent at M to ΓD , so M D = M F ; similarly, N E = N G.
From M O = N O we find that M ON is an isosceles triangle, and CO is its height
with respect to the base M N : it follows that CM = CN .
To sum up: CF = CM + M F = CM + M D = CN + N E = CN + N G = CG.
(Note that the proof is valid even if AB is a diameter: the cyclic quadrilaterals
DM CO and EN OC simply become the two congruent right triangles M OD and
N OE.)
Conversely, suppose that CF = CG. With the previous notation, we immediately
find that CM +M D = CN +N E. Note that ∠CDM and ∠CEN are supplementary,
since, given ϕ = ∠EDO = ∠DEO, one of them is equal to 90◦ + ϕ and the other
to 90◦ − ϕ. In particular, sin(∠CDM ) = sin(∠CEN ) = cos ϕ. We now use the law
of sines on the triangles CDM and CEN . We have that
CM MD CN EN
= e = ,
cos ϕ sin γ cos ϕ sin γ
and therefore CM/CN = M D/EN . Seeing that CM +M D = CN +N E, this ratio
is equal to 1, and therefore CM = CN and M D = N E. The right triangles M DO
and N EO are congruent, since their legs are equal. It follows that M O = ON and
16

the triangle M ON is isosceles. But then C, the midpoint of the base M N , is also
the foot of the height, which means that OC is perpendicular to AB, and therefore
C is the midpoint of AB.
Alternate solution: Let O be the center of Γ and OD the center of ΓD . Let I
be the intersection point of perpendicular bisector of AB and Γ on the same side
as D with respect to AB, and J be the one on the same side as E. We will now
prove that I, D, and F lie on a single line. The triangles OD DF and ODI are
isosceles with bases F D and DI, since OD D and OD F are radii of ΓD , while OI
and OD are radii of Γ. Since the lines IJ and OD F are both orthogonal to the
line AB, they are parallel; furthermore, since OD and DOD are orthogonal to the
common tangent to Γ and ΓD at D, the points O, D, OD lie on the same line. But
then ∠IOD = ∠F OD D, as they are alternate angles, from which follows that the
isosceles triangles OD DF and ODI are similar, therefore ∠F DOD = ∠ODI. It
follows that F , D, I lie on a single line. Similarly, we find that J, E, G lie on a
single line.
Let H be the intersection point of AB and IJ, and let D0 be the intersection point
of F J and Γ. We will now show that ∠JHD0 = ∠DHI. The quadrilateral F DHJ
is cyclic, since ∠JHF = ∠JDF = 90◦ ; therefore we have that ∠DHI = ∠DF J, as
they are both supplementary to ∠DHJ. Similarly, the quadrilateral F IHD0 is also
cyclic (∠F HI = ∠F D0 I = 90◦ ), and therefore ∠JHD0 = ∠D0 F I = ∠DF J, as they
are both supplementary to ∠D0 HI. Thus we have proven that ∠JHD0 = ∠DHI.
If CA = CB, then C and H coincide. Since in this case D0 the reflection of E in
IJ, F is the reflection of G in IJ and therefore CF = CG.
If instead CA > CB, then we will show that CF > HF > HG > CG, The first and
last inequalities are evident. Let D00 be the intersection point of the line DH and Γ
that is different from D, so D00 is the reflection of D0 in the line IJ, and let F 0 be the
intersection point of the line JD00 and the line AB; F 0 is the reflection of F in H, so
HF = HF 0 . Now, supposing that CA > CB (in other words, that C lies inside the
segment HB), it follows that E is part of the arc BD00 of Γ that does not contain
J. But the the triangle HJG lies inside HJF 0 , and therefore HG < HF 0 = HF .
Similarly, if CA < CB, we find that CF < CG.
Solution to 6: The numbers for which Charles has a winning strategy are all
prime numbers except 2, 7, and 13, as well as the following numbers: 8, 14, 26, 49,
91, 169.
The reason is as follows.
First of all, we will show that a match cannot last indefinitely. The sum of the
number on the board and the scores of the two players can never increase. Suppose
this sum is initially S. It is not possible, at any point of the game, for S type 2 moves
to be played consecutively, because it would cause the number on the board, and
therefore the sum, to exceed the initial value of S. It follows that for every S moves,
at least one is of type 1. Each type 1 move, however, causes a clear decrease of the
sum. Therefore, after no more than S type 1 moves the sum of the number on the
 17

board and the scores would be reduced to zero, which cannot happen. So the match
cannot last longer than S 2 moves. By corollary, a strategy that prevents a player
from losing is automatically a winning strategy.
Let L (losers) be the set of the numbers given above, and W (winners) the com-
plementary set. We will now describe a strategy that will allow Ada to win if the
starting number belongs to the set W . The idea behind the strategy is to make a
move that replaces the number belonging to W with a number belonging to L. It
is easy to show that from a number in L it is not possible to reach another number
in L with a single move. Charles will therefore be forced to replace the number in L
written by Ada with a new number in W , from which Ada will be able to apply the
same strategy again. For this to work we must be sure that from every number in
the set W it is possible to reach a number in the set L, and that during the match
Ada cannot lose all her 1000 points.
Let n be a number belonging to the set W . Starting from n, Ada can reach a number
in the set L by choosing her move according to the following strategy:
a: If n is divisible by a prime factor other than 2, 7, and 13, then Ada writes
that factor, which belongs to L.
b: If n is 2, 7, or 13, then Ada makes move 2 and writes 3, 8, or 14, respectively.
c: If n is divisible by the product of two of these factors, then Ada writes 14, 26,
or 91.
d: The last possible case is if n is a power of 2, 7, or 13: in this case, Ada writes
8, 49, or 169, unless n is 4.
e: If n is 4, makes move 2 and writes 5.
Except for cases b and e, all of Ada’s moves are of type 1, which increase her score.
We must therefore see what happens when Ada is forced to make a move from the
numbers 2, 4, 7, and 13: clearly when this happens for the first time Ada has at least
1000 points. First we will check number 4. In this case, according to our strategy,
Ada writes the number 5, sacrificing a point, and Charles is forced to write 6. Then
Ada writes 3, regaining her lost point. Then Charles must write 4, and the cycle
repeats until the end of the game. In this case Ada’s score never goes below her
initial score minus one, so Charles necessarily loses. If the number is 2, then Ada
writes 3, losing a point, and Charles is forced to write 4 and therefore lose. If the
number is 7, Ada writes 8, and Charles can choose to write either 2 or 4 and lose, or
to write 9, from which Ada writes 3 and Charles writes 4 and loses. If the number
is 13, Ada writes 14, then Charles can choose between 2 and 7, losing, or 15, from
which Ada writes 3 and, as shown previously, Charles loses.
Now suppose that Ada begins with a number from the set L. She will then be
forced to make a move that produces a number belonging to the set W , from which
Charles will be able to win by employing the strategy we have described in the
previous paragraph.
Italian Team Selection Test
Pisa, 29-30 May 2015
Day 1
A1 Determine whether there exist functions f : (0, +∞) → (0, +∞) such that

(x2 + y)f (yf (x) + f (y 2 )) = x3 f (y 2 f (x))

for every pair of real positive numbers x and y.

A2 Let ABCD be a convex quadrilateral. The lines AD and BC intersect in E.
The lines AC and BD intersect in P . The circumscribed circles of the triangles
AP D and BP C intersect again in Q.
Let M be the midpoint of AD, let N be the midpoint of BC, let K be the intersection
point of AC and M N , and let L be the intersection point of BD and M N .
(a) Prove that EM QN is cyclic.
(b) Prove that the circumscribed circles of the triangles AM K and BN L pass
through the point Q.
(c) Prove that the circumscribed circles of the triangles AM K and BN L both
pass through the same point on the line AB.
A3 Let n ≥ 2 be an integer, and let

An = 2n − 2k : k ∈ {0, 1, . . . , n − 1} .


Find, as a function of n, the greatest positive integer that cannot be written as the
sum of one or more elements of An (not necessarily distinct).

Day 2
B1 A nation contains 20 cities and 18 planes. Each plane regularly follows a circular
path which consists of 5 flights between 5 different cities. Each city lies on the path
of at least 3 planes. For each pair of cities, there is at most one plane that flies from
one the other directly without layovers in other cities.
Prove that from each city in this nation it is possible to visit every other city by
traveling exclusively on these planes.
B2 Find all pairs of positive integers (x, y) that satisfy the following property: if
a and b are positive divisors of x3 + y 3 and are relatively prime, then a + b − 1 also
divides x3 + y 3 .
B3 Let ABC be an acute triangle, with AB > BC. Let O be its circumcenter and
Ω its circumscribed circle. Let M be the second intersection point of the interior
bisector of the angle in B and Ω. Let K be the midpoint of BM . Let Γ be the circle
with diameter BM . The interior bisectors of ∠AOB and ∠BOC intersect Γ in the
points P and Q respectively (remember that the bisectors are half-lines).
20

(a) Prove that P QKO is cyclic.

(b) Calling R the point on the line P Q such that RB = RM , prove that the lines
BR and AC are parallel.

Sources
Problem A1: short list Belarus Mathematical Olympiad 2015 (problem A4)
Problem A2: short list Belarus Mathematical Olympiad 2015 (problem G5)
Problem A3: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2014 (problem N1)
Problem B1: short list Belarus Mathematical Olympiad 2002 (problem A3)
Problem B2: short list Belarus Mathematical Olympiad 2015 (problem N4)
Problem B3: short list International Mathematical Olympiad 2014 (problem G3)