Sunaina and Malay play a game on the coordinate plane. Sunaina has two pawns on $(0,0)$ and $(x,0)$, and Malay has a pawn on $(y,w)$, where $x,y,w$ are all positive integers. They take turns alternately, starting with Sunaina. In their turn they can move one of their pawns one step vertically up or down. Sunaina wins if at any point in time all the three pawns are colinear. Find all values of $x,y$ for which Sunaina has a winning strategy irrespective of the value of $w$. Proposed by NV Tejaswi
Problem
Source: India Practice EGMO TST 2025 P3
Tags: algebra
12.12.2024 17:01
Solved with AN1729 If $y\leq x$, then choose $w=142857$. Now notice that Malay will always move his pawn upwards and will not lose. So now we consider $x<y$. Claim - Only $(x,y) = (x,2x), (x,\frac{3x}{2}), (x,3x)$ work. Let the pawns on $(0,0)$ be $s_1$, $(x,0)$ be $s_2$ and $(y,w)$ be $m$. Let the vertical line on which $m$ moves be $k$. Let $h_1$ and $h_2$ be the directed vertical distances between $s_1$ and $s_2$, and $s_1$ and $m$ respectively. Let $l$ be the line formed by $s_1$ and $s_2$. Let $l \cap k$ be $W$. Proof - Assume $y \neq 2x, \frac{3x}{2}, 3x$, and that Sunaina can force a win. WLOG assume $(x,y) = 1$, and choose $w$ sufficiently large such that Malay does not lose on move $1$. Consider the penultimate position, where it is Malay to move. So, any move Malay makes should result in a loss in atmost one more move. Also in the ultimate position, $h_1$ must be a multiple of $x$ for $W$ to be a lattice point. Case 1 - $W$ is a lattice point in the penultimate position. Case 1a - $x \neq 1$. Then, Malay can always choose the point that is not $W$, and after Sunaina's move, $W$ will not be a lattice point, so Malay cannot lose. Case 1b - $x=1 \implies y>3$. So, Sunaina's next move will either move $W$ up or down by distance $y$ or up and down by distance $y-1$. Since $y>3$, Malay will always have a safe square and choose his move such that he will not get trapped. Case 2 - $W$ is not a lattice point in the penultimate position. ($x \neq 1$) Case 2a - Now, assume $x>2$. Then, Malay cannot lose on his move, and for $W$ to be a lattice point after Sunaina's move, $h_1 \equiv \pm 1 \pmod{x}$. Since $x>2$, Sunaina has to either increase or decrease $h_1$ (which depends on $h_1 \pmod{x}$). There is only one possible move for each of $s_1$ and $s_2$ to make $W$ a lattice point. Now, the $2$ positions that $W$ can reach on the next move are exactly $1$ unit apart. But, Malay can move his point such that after his move, $m$ will be on neither of these points, since Malay can choose between points having a gap of $2$. Case 2b - $x=2, y>3$. Now, since $W$ is not a lattice point, Sunaina can move both pawns up and down to make it a lattice point. So, $W$ can reach $4$ points. If the top point has coordinate $k$, then the other points have coordinates $k-1, k-y+1, k-y$. None of these have a distance of $2$ between them as $y>3$, so Malay will always have a safe square. Now assume $y = 2x, \frac{3x}2, 3x$. In each of these cases, $2$ of Sunaina's moves will give $W$ a distance of exactly $2$ between them, so Sunaina can trap Malay. It is trivial to see that Sunaina always reaches Malay (since the slope of $l$ changes by $\frac yx$ which is $>1$).
16.12.2024 10:42
Solved with Nimloth149131215208 Denote $\frac{y}{x}$ as $r$. Note that $r>0$. I claim the answer is $r\in\{2,\frac{3}{2},3\}$.