Problem

Source: EGMO 2016 Day 2 Problem 5

Tags: combinatorics, EGMO, Tiling, EGMO 2016, Hi



Let $k$ and $n$ be integers such that $k\ge 2$ and $k \le n \le 2k-1$. Place rectangular tiles, each of size $1 \times k$, or $k \times 1$ on a $n \times n$ chessboard so that each tile covers exactly $k$ cells and no two tiles overlap. Do this until no further tile can be placed in this way. For each such $k$ and $n$, determine the minimum number of tiles that such an arrangement may contain.