The March Hare and the Dormouse also decided to play a game. They made two piles of matches on the table. The first pile contains 7 matches, and the second one 8. The March Hare set the rules: the players divide a pile into two piles in turns, i.e. the first player divides one of the piles into two, then the second player divides one of the piles on the table into two, then the first player divides one of the piles into two and so on. The loser is the one who cannot not find a pile to divide. The March Hare starts the game. Can the March Hare play in such a way that he always wins?
A board \(7\times7\) is coloured in chessboard fashion in such a way that all the corners are black. The Queen orders the Hatter to colour the board white but sets the rule: in one go it is allowed to repaint only two adjacent cells into opposite colours. The Hatter tries to explain that this is impossible. Can you help the Hatter to present his arguments?
The Hatter plays a computer game. There is a number on the screen, which every minute increases by 102. The initial number is 123. The Hatter can change the order of the digits of the number on the screen at any moment. His aim is to keep the number of the digits on the screen below four. Can he do it?
The Hatter has a peculiar ancient device, which can perform the following three operations: for each \(x\) and \(y\) it calculates \(x+y\), \(x-y\) and \(\frac{1}{x}\) (for \(x \neq 0\)).
(a) The Hatter claims that he can square any positive real number using the device by performing not more than 6 operations. How can he do it?
(b) Moreover, the Hatter claims that he can multiply any two positive real numbers with the help of the device by performing not more than 20 operations. Can you show how?
(All intermediate results are allowed to be written down, and can be used in further calculations.)
Show that in the game “Noughts and Crosses” the second player never wins if the first player is smart enough.
There is a chequered board of dimension \(10 \times 12\). In one go you are allowed to cross out any row or column if it contains at least one square which was not crossed out yet. The loser is the player who cannot make a move. Is there a winning strategy for any player?
Pathways in the Wonderland zoo make a equilateral triangles with middle lines drawn. A monkey has escaped from it’s cage. Two zoo caretakers are catching the monkey. Can zookeepers catch the monkey if all three of them are running only on pathways, the running speeds of the monkey and the zookeepers are equal, and they are all able to see each other?
There is a chequered board of dimension (a) \(9\times 10\), (b) \(9\times 11\). In one go you are allowed to cross out any row or column if it contains at least one square which was not crossed out yet. The loser is the player who cannot make a move. Is there a winning strategy for any player?
Alice and the Hatter play a game. Alice takes a coin in each hand: 2p coin and 5p coin, one coin per hand. Then she multiplies the value of the coin in the left hand by 4, 10, 12, or 26, and the value of the coin in the right hand by 7, 13, 21, or 35. Finally, she adds the two products together, and tells the result to the Hatter. To her surprise, the Hatter immediately knows in which hand she has the 2p coin. How does he do it?
The March Hare and the Dormouse are playing a game. A rook is placed on square a1 on a chessboard. In one go it is allowed to move the rook by any number of squares but only up or to the right. The winner is the one who places the rook on square h8. The Dormouse makes the first move. Who will win the game? (It is assumed that everybody is following the best possible strategy).