Problem

Source: Balkan MO Shortlist 2013 C5 BMO

Tags: combinatorics, Chessboard, Coloring



The cells of an $n \times n$ chessboard are coloured in several colours so that no $2\times 2$ square contains four cells of the same colour. A proper path of length $m$ is a sequence $a_1,a_2,..., a_m$ of distinct cells in which the cells $a_i$ and $a_{i+1}$ have a common side and are coloured in different colours for all $1 \le i < m$. Show that there exists a proper path of length $n$.