Problem

Source: 2024 Indonesia Regional MO Essay Problem 2

Tags: domino, combinatorics, Chessboard, board, Boards, Indonesia, RMO



Given an $n \times n$ board which is divided into $n^2$ squares of size $1 \times 1$, all of which are white. Then, Aqua selects several squares from this board and colors them black. Ruby then places exactly one $1\times 2$ domino on the board, so that the domino covers exactly two squares on the board. Ruby can rotate the domino into a $2\times 1$ domino. After Aqua colors, it turns out there are exactly $2024$ ways for Ruby to place a domino on the board so that it covers exactly $1$ black square and $1$ white square. Determine the smallest possible value of $n$ so that Aqua and Ruby can do this. Proposed by Muhammad Afifurrahman, Indonesia