In one urn there are two white balls, in another two black ones, in the third – one white and one black. On each urn there was a sign indicating its contents: WW, BB, WB. Someone rehung the signs so that now each sign indicating the contents of the urn is incorrect. It is possible to remove a ball from any urn without looking into it. What is the minimum number of removals required to determine the composition of all three urns?
a) There are 21 coins on a table with the tails side facing upwards. In one operation, you are allowed to turn over any 20 coins. Is it possible to achieve the arrangement were all coins are facing with the heads side upwards in a few operations?
b) The same question, if there are 20 coins, but you are allowed to turn over 19.
You may remember the game Nim. We will now play a slightly modified version, called Thrim. In Thrim, there are two piles of stones (or any objects of your choosing), one of size \(1\) and the other of size \(5\).
Whoever takes the last stone wins. The players take it in turns to remove stones - they can only remove stones from one pile at a time, and they can remove at most \(3\) stones at a time.
Does the player going first or the player going second have a winning strategy?
Karl and Louie are playing a game. They place action figures around a round table with 24 seats. No two figures are allowed to sit next to each other, regardless of whether they belong to Karl or Louie. The player who cannot place their figure loses the game. Karl goes first - show that Louie can always win.
Katie and Andy play the following game: There are \(18\) chocolate bites on a plate. Each player is allowed to take \(1,2\) or \(3\) bites at once. The person who cannot take any more bites loses. Katie starts. Who has the winning strategy?
Arthur and Dan play the following game. There are \(26\) beads on the necklace. Each boy is allowed to take \(1,2,3\) or \(4\) beads at once. The boy who cannot take any more beads loses. Arthur starts - who will win?
Two goblins, Krok and Grok, are playing a game with a pile of gold. Each goblin takes a positive number of coins, at most \(9\), from the pile. They take turns one after another. There are \(3333\) coins in total and the goblin who takes the last coin wins. Who will win if Krok goes first?
The numbers from \(1\) to \(2025\) are written on a board. Karen and Leon are playing a game where they pick a number on the board and wipe it, together with all of its divisors. Leon goes first. Show that he has a winning strategy.
Katie and Juan played chess for some time and they got bored - Katie was winning all the time. She decided to make the game easier for Juan and changed the rules a bit. Now, each player makes two usual chess moves at once, and then the other player does the same. (Rules for checks and check-mates are modified accordingly). In the new game, Juan will start first. Show that Katie definitely does not have a winning strategy.
Two players are emptying two drawers full of socks. One drawer has 20 socks and the other has 34 socks. Each player can take any number of socks from one drawer. The player who can’t make a move loses. Assuming the players make no mistakes, will the first or the second player win?