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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Library Olympiads

Mathematical Olympiads
Macedonian Mathematical Olympiads
Balkan Mathematical Olympiads
European Girl’s Mathematical Olympiad
European Mathematical Cup
Mediterranean Mathematical Olympiad
Asian-Pacific Mathematical Olympiad

Daniel Velinov, Ph.D.

Sanja Atanasova, Ph.D.
Slagjana Brsakoska, Ph.D.
Samoil Malcheski, Ph. D.
Risto Malcheski, Ph.D.
Pavel Dimovski, Ph.D.
Tomi Dimovski, M.Sc.
Vesna Andova, Ph.D.
Dimitar Treneski
Petar Filiposki
Aleksa Malcheski, Ph.D.

Republic of Macedonia, Skopje 2015

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

President: Aleksa Malcheski

Leader: Daniel Velinov
Deputy Leader: Sanja Atanasova

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Foreword

This year in the Republic of Macedonia were held various competitions in the field of
mathematics on all levels in primary and secondary school: school, municipality, regional, state
competitions and Olympiads, as it is a tradition for many years in the past. Also, Republic of
Macedonia was one of the participating countries on some world famous math competitions abroad.
In December 2018, the European Mathematical Cup was held in Skopje. Students from all over
the country were competing in two categories Junior and Senior.
On April 14, 2019 the 26-th Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad, MMO 2019, was held in
FON University, Skopje, for the students from secondary school. After all rigorous selection
processes which raised from the complete system of the competitions in the Republic of Macedonia,
the BMO team was formed. The 36-nd Balkan Mathematical Olympiad, BMO 2019, was held in
Chisinau, Moldova in May 2019.
On May 29, 2019 the 23-th Junior Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad, JMMO 2019, was held
in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Skopje. There the Macedonian team of the best 6
contestants under 15,5 years, was elected. They were participants in the 23-th Junior Balkan
Mathematical Olympiad, JBMO 2015, which was held in June 2015 in Agros, Republic of Cyprus.
Then after the IMO team selection test, the IMO team was formed. This year the International
Mathematical Olympiad, IMO 2019, will take place in Bath, the United Kingdom of Great Britain
in July 2019.
The content of this book consists of the mathematical competitions that already took place in
Macedonia, the Balkan region and wider abroad, as well as the solutions.

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

XXVI Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad

FON University, Skopje
14.04.2019, Skopje
Problem 1. Let ABC be an acute triangle, M be midpoint of the segment BC and the centers of
the excircles with respect of M of the triangles AMB and AMC are D and E , respectively. The
The circumcircle of the triangle ABD meets the line BC at the points B and F . The circumcircle of
the triangle ACE meets the line BC at the points C and G . Prove that BF  CG .
Solution. (BMO shortlist) Obviously, we have ADB  90  12 AMB and AEC  90  12 AMC .

Let the circumcircles of  ADB and  AEC meet again the line AM at the points P and P ' , respectively.
Let we notice that the point M is outside of the circumcircles of  ADB and  AEC , since
ADB  AMB  180 and AEC  AMC  180 , so P and P ' lie on the ray MA . Furthermore,
BPM  BDA  90  12 PMB , hence the triangle BPM is isosceles, so MP  MB . Analogously,
MP '  MC  MB , so P '  P .
Now, using the power of the point M , we obtain MB  MF  MP  MA  MC  MG , i.e. MF  MG  MA ,
hence BF  CG .

Problem 2. Let n be a positive integer. If r  n  mod 2  and r {0,1} , then find the number of the
integer solutions of the system of equations
x  y  z  r
 .
| x |  | y |  | z | n
Solution. Let n be a even positive integer, that is r  0 . Then the problem can be reformulated as to find
the number of integer solutions of the system of equations
x  y  z  0
 .....(1)
| x |  | y |  | z | n
Lemma. 1) At least one of the numbers x, y, z has absolute value n2 .
2) Each of x, y, z has absolute value  n2 .
Proof. It is clear that one of the numbers x, y, z must be positive; otherwise we obtain contradiction with
the first equation of the system of equations (1). Without loss the generality, we may assume x  0.
Indeed, if x  n2 , from x  ( y  z ) , and from | y |  | z || y  z | n2 we obtain contradiction with the second
equation of the system of equations (1).

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

If 0  x  n2 , then at leas one of the numbers y, z is smaller than 0. We consider two cases: Case 1.
y  0, z  0 , and Case 2. yz  0 .
Case 1. | y  z || y |  | z | and y  z   x , so | x |  | y |  | z | n2  n2 , which is contradiction.
Case 2. Let y  0  z . In this case x  z   y , that is | y || x  z || x |  | z | from where we obtain
2 | y || y |  | x  z || x |  | y |  | z | n or | y | n2 .
The case when x  0 is analogues. This completes the lemma.

Continuation of the solution. Let only one of the numbers x, y, z be positive. Without loss of
generality, let x  0 , and then x  n2 and y  z   n2 . From the lemma, it follows that all the ordered triples

 n2 ,  n2 ,0 ,  n2 ,  n2  1, 1 ,  n2 ,  n2  2, 2,...,  n2 ,0,  n2 

are solution of the system of equations (1), and those are n2  1 solutions. Changing the position of n2 (at the

second and at the third coordinate) and applying the same discussion, we obtain 3 n2  1 ordered triples  
which are solution of the system of equations (1). Let any two of x, y, z are positive. Without loss of
generality, let x  0, y  0 . Then z   n2 and x  y  n2 . From the lemma, it follows that all the ordered
triples
1, n2 1,  n2  ,  2, n2  2,  n2  , 3, n2  3,  n2 ,...,  n2 1,1,  n2 
are solution of the system of equations (1), and those are n2  1 solutions. Changing the position of  n2 (at

the first and at the second coordinate) and applying the same discussion, we obtain 3 n2  1 ordered triples  
which are solution of the system of equations (1). Finally, we obtain that the total number of solutions of the
system of equations (1) is
  
3 n2  1  3 n2  1  3n .
Now, let n be a odd positive integer , that is r  1 . Then, the system (1) can be written as
x  y  z  1
 .
| x |  | y |  | z | n
In analogues way as the case when n is even, (using the appropriate lemma obtained when replacing n2 with
n1 ), we obtain that the total number of solutions of the system of equations (1) is
2

   
3 n21  1  3 n21  3n.
Problem 3. Let ABC be an isosceles triangle ( AB  AC ) and let M be a midpoint of the segment BC .
The point P is chosen such that PB  PC and PA is parallel to BC . Let X and Y are point from the
lines PB and PC , respectively, such that the point B is on the segment PX , C is on the segment PY and
PXM  PYM . Prove that the quadrilateral APXY is cyclic.
Solution (IMO Shortlist). Since AB  AC , AM is a axes of symmetry of the segment BC , we have
PAM  AMC  90 .
Let Z be intersection point of the line AM and the normal of PC , passing through Y (notice that Z is
on the ray AM after the point M ). We have, PAZ  PYZ  90 . Hence, the points P, A, Y and Z are
concyclic.
Since CMZ  CYZ  90 , the quadrilateral CYZM is cyclic, so CZM  CYM . By the condition
of the problem, CYM  BXM , and since ZM is axes of symmetry of the angle BZC , we have
CZM  BZM . So, BXM  BZM . Now, we have that the points B, X , Z and M are concyclic, so
BXZ  180  BMZ  90 .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Finally, e obtain that PXZ  PYZ  PAZ  90 , hence the points P, A, X , Y , Z are concyclic, i.e. the
quadrilateral APXY is cyclic.
Remark. The construction of the point Z , can be made in a different ways. One way is the point Z to be
second intersection of the circle CMY and the line AM . Another way to introduce the point Z is as a
second intersection point of the circumcircles of the triangles CMY and BMX .

Problem 4. Find all functions f :  such that

n! f (m)!| f (n)! f (m!)
for all m, n .
Solution. (BMO Shortlist) Taking m  n 1 in (*) yields 1  f (1)!| f (1)! f (1) and hence
1  f (1)!| f (1) 1 . Since, | f (1)  1| f (1)! 1 , that is 1  f (1)!| f (1)  1 it follows that f (1)  1  0 , i.e.
f (1)  1 .
For m  1 in (*) we have n! 1| f (n)! 1 , which implies n!  f (n)! , i.e. n  f (n) . On the other hand,
taking (m, n)  (1, p  1) for any prime number p and using Wilson’s theorem we obtain
p | ( p  1)! 1| f ( p  1)! 1 , implying f ( p  1)  p . But f ( p  1)  p  1 and from f ( p  1)  p we conclude
that
f ( p  1)  p  1.
Next, fix a positive integer m . For any prime number p , setting n  p  1 in (*) yields
( p  1)! f (m)!| ( p  1)! f (m!) , hence
( p  1)! f (m)!| f (m!)  f (m)! ,
For all prime numbers p . This implies f (m!)  f (m)! , for all m , so (*) can be rewritten as
n! f (m)!| f (n)! f (m)! . This implies
n! f (m)!| f (n)! n! ,
for all m, n . Fixing n and taking m large enough, we conclude that f (n)!  n! , i.e. f (n)  n , for all
n .
Problem 5. Let n be a given positive integer. Sisyphus performs a sequence on a board
consisting of n  1 squares in a row, numbered from 0 to n , starting from left to right. At the
beginning, n stones are put into square numbered 0 , and the other squares are empty. At any turn,
Sisyphus chooses any nonempty square with k stones, takes on of these stones and moves it to the
right but at most k squares (the chosen stone should stay within the board). The goal of Sisyphus is

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

to place all n stones at the square n . Prove that Sisyphus can not achieve his goal in less that
n n n n
 1    2    3   ...   n  moves. Notation  x  stands for the least integer not smaller than x .
       
Solution. (IMO Shortlist) The stones are indistinguishable, and all have the same origin and the
same final position. So, at any position we can prescribe which stone from the chosen square to
move. We do it in the following manner. Number the stone from 1 to n . At any turn, after choosing a
square, Sisyphus moves the stone with the largest number from the square.
This way, when stone k is moved from some square, that square contains not more than k stones
(since all their numbers are at most k ). Therefore, stone k is moved by at most k squares at each turn. Since
n
the total shift of the stone is exactly n , at least   moves of stone k should have been made, for every
k 
k  1,2,..., n .
By summing up over all k  1,2,..., n , we get the required estimate.

************************************

Junior Macedonian Mathematical Olympiad 2019

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering - Skopje
26.05.2019

Problem 1. Find all prime numbers which can be written as 1  2 p  3 p  ...  p p where p is prime
number.
Solution. First solution. For p  2 we have 1  22  5 , which is a prime number. Let p  2 , so p is an
odd number. Then
p1 p1
1  2 p  3 p  ...  p p  (1p  ( p  1) p )  (2 p  ( p  2) p )  ...  (( 2 ) p  ( 2 ) p )  p p

is divisible by p , because each number in the brackets is divisible by p . Indeed, from k p  k p (mod p) ,
p  k  k (mod p) and ( p  k ) p  (k ) p  k p (mod p) , it follows that k p  ( p  k ) p  k p  k p  0(mod p)
. This means that for every odd prime number p , the number of the form 1  2 p  3 p  ...  p p is compound
number.
Finally, the only solution of the problem is the number 5 which is obtained when p  2 .
Second solution. From the Fermat’s theorem we have a p  a(mod p) , for all positive integers a and
every prime number p . Then
p( p 1)
1  2 p  3 p  ...  p p  1  2  ...  p  2
(mod p) .
p( p 1)
If p is an odd number, then p  1 is even, hence 2
 0(mod p) , so in this case there is no such prime

number with form as in the condition of the problem. For p  2 we get 1  22  5 , so the only solution of the
problem is the number 5. ■
Problem 2. The circles and meet at two points and . Let and are tangents of and ,
respectively, passing through the point . Let the second intersection of the circle and is , and the
second intersection of and is .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

The points and lie on the ray , such that lies between and , lies between and and
. The circumcircle of intersects again at the point , and the circumcircle of
intersects again at the point . Prove that the points , and are colinear.
Solution. Using the property for angle between
the tangent and the chord in the circle we
have . From the cyclic quadrilateral
we obtain . Hence,

so, we obtain .
By the property between the angle of the tangent
and the chord in the circle we have
.
From the cyclic quadrilateral we obtain
. Hence,

so we obtain .
Hence, the quadrilateral is parallelogram.
By , we have , i.e. is a
midpoint of the diagonal in the parallelogram . Since the property of the diagonals in a
parallelogram, we have that must be midpoint of the other diagonal , i.e. . Hence, the points
, and are colinear. ■
3. We consider coloring in the plane such that:
 Choose arbitrary positive integer m
 Let K1, K2 ,..., Km are different circles with radii not equal to zero such that Ki  K j or K j  Ki for i  j ,
 The points of the plane which are outside of some arbitrary chosen circle are differently colored with the
respect of point inside in the circle.
Let we have 2019 point lying in the plane such that no three of them are collinear.
Find the maximal number of colors, such that the points are colored satisfying the conditions of the problem.
Solution. By the condition of the problem the maximal number of colors is less or equal than 2019.
We will prove that the number 2019 can be achieved. In this case it is enough to show that there exist
circles K1, K2 ,..., K2019 defining different coloring of the points. Let we consider all the segments such that
the given points are end points. They are 201922018 such segments. Then we construct axes of symmetry of
these segments. We choose point such is not lying on any axes of symmetry. Clearly, the distances between
this point and all other points are different real numbers (the chosen point does not lie on any of the axes of
symmetry) and with these distances we form strictly increasing sequence 0  s1  s2  ...  s2019 . Then, we
can find numbers ri , i  1,2,...,2019 such that s1  r1  s2  r2  ...  s2019  r2019 . Finally, we construct 2019
concentric circles with centre in some chosen point and radii ri ,1  i  2019 . Clearly, these circles are
defining coloring, in which one every chosen point is differently colored. ■
Problem 4. Let the real numbers a, b and c are such that
(a  b)(b  c)(c  a)  abc и (a9  b9 )(b9  c9 )(c9  a9 )  (abc)9 .
Prove that at least one of the numbers a, b, c is zero.
Solution. For an arbitrary real numbers x and y hold x2  xy  y 2  xy and x6  x3 y3  y6  x3 y3 , so

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

x9  y9  ( x  y)( x2  xy  y 2 )( x6  x3 y3  y 6 )  ( x  y) xyx3 y3  ( x  y) x4 y 4 .
The equality holds if and only if x  y . Using the upper inequalities and the conditions of the problem, we
obtain
(abc)9  (a9  b9 )(b9  c9 )(c9  a9 )  (a  b)(b  c)(c  a)a 4b4b4c4c4a 4  a9b9c9 .
If a  0, b  0, c  0 the equality holds when a  b  c . Having this of mind and the equation
(a  b)(b  c)(c  a)  abc we have that 8a3  a3 , i.e. a  0 , which is a contradiction. Finally, at least one of
the numbers a, b, c is zero.■
Problem 5. Let p1, p2 ,..., pk be different prime numbers. Find the number of positive integers of the form
  
p1 1 p2 2 ... pk k , i  for which 1 2 ... k  p1 p2 ... pk .
Solution. It is clear that from p1 p2 ... pk  12 ... k it follows that for every i {1,2,..., k} , pi |  s
holds, for some s {1,2,..., k} . Having this, we will construct ordered k  tuple (1,..., k ) of positive
integers for which the equation p1 p2 ... pk  12 ... k holds. We take k  tuple (1,1,...,1) . We multiply one
arbitrary term from this k  tuple with p1 . Then, we multiply one term from the obtained k  tuple with p2 ,
which means that for p2 , we have k possible ways. Continuing this procedure, we can obtain that for all

prime numbers p3 ,..., pk we have k possible ways. So, we have that there exist k k ordered k  tuples
(1,..., k ) such that p1 p2 ... pk  12 ... k . Clearly, all of these k  tuples determines a number of form
  
p1 1 p2 2 ... pk k , i  and different k  tuples determine different numbers like in the statement of the
 
problem. Indeed, if (1,...,k )  (1,..., k ) , then i  i for at least one i {1,2,..., k} , so pi i  pi i ,
k k
hence p11 p 1 2
2 ... pk  p1 p2 ... pk .
2

k
Conversely, every number of form p11 p
2 ... pk , i 
2 such that 1 2 ... k  p1 p2 ... pk determines
ordered k  tuple (1,..., k ) of positive integers such that p1 p2 ... pk  12 ... k .
Finally, from the previous considerations we can conclude the that number of positive integers of form
  
p1 1 p2 2 ... pk k , i  such that 1 2 ... k  p1 p2 ... pk is equal to k k . ■

36th Balkan Mathematical Olympiad

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
April 30-May 5, 2019
Problem 1. Let  be the set of all prime numbers. Find all functions f :    such that
f ( p) f ( q )  q p  f ( q) f ( p )  p q
holds for all p, q  .
Problem 2. Let a, b, c be real numbers, such that 0  a  b  c and a  b  c  ab  bc  ca  0 . Prove
that bc (a  1)  2 . Find all triples (a, b, c) for which equality holds.
Problem 3. Let ABC be an acute triangle. Let X and Y be two distinct interior points of the segment
BC such that CAX  YAB . Suppose that:
1) K and S are the feet of perpendiculars from B to the lines AX and AY respectively;
2) T and L are the feet of perpendiculars from C to the lines AX and AY respectively.
Prove that KL and ST intersect on the line BC .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Problem 4. A grid consists of all points of the form (m, n) where m and n are integers with | m | 2019 ,
| n | 2019 and | m |  | n | 4038 . We call the points (m, n) of the grid with either | m | 2019 or
| n | 2019 the boundary points. The four lines x  2019 and y  2019 are called boundary lines. Two
points in the grid are called neighbours if the distance between them is equal to 1.
Anna and Bob play a game on this grid.
Anna starts with a token at the point (0, 0) . They take turns, with Bob playing first.
1) On each of his turns, Bob deletes at most two boundary points on each boundary line.
2) On each of her turns, Anna makes exactly three steps, where a step consists of
moving her token from its current point to any neighbouring point, which has not been deleted.
As soon as Anna places her token on some boundary point which has not been deleted, the game is over
and Anna wins.
Does Anna have a winning strategy?
Solutions.
Problem 1. Let  be the set of all prime numbers. Find all functions f :    such that
f ( p) f ( q )  q p  f ( q) f ( p )  p q
holds for all p, q  .
Solution. Obviously, the identical function f ( p)  p for all p  is a solution. We will show that this
is the only one.
First we will show that f (2)  2 . Taking q  2 and p any odd prime number, we have
f ( p) f (2)  2 p  f (2) f ( p )  p 2 .
Assume that f (2)  2 . It follows that f (2) is odd and so f ( p)  2 for any odd prime number p .
Taking any two different odd prime numbers p, q we have
22  q p  22  pq  pq  q p  p  q ,
contradiction. Hence, f (2)  2 .
So for any odd prime number p we have
f ( p) 2  2 p  2 f ( p )  p 2 .
Copy this relation as
2 p  p 2  2 f ( p )  f ( p) 2 . (1)
Let T be the set of all positive integers greater than 2 , i.e. T  {3, 4,5,...} . The function g : T  ,
g (n)  2n  n2 , is strictly increasing, i.e.
g (n  1)  g (n)  2n  2n  1  0 (2)
for all n  T . We show this by induction. Indeed, for n  3 it is true, 2  2  3  1  0 .
3

Assume that 2k  2k  1  0 . It follows that for n  k  1 we have

2k 1  2(k  1)  1  (2k  2k  1)  (2k  2)  0 ,
for any k  3 . Therefore, (2) is true for all n  T .
As consequence, (1) holds if and only if f ( p)  p for all odd prime numbers p , as well as for p  2 .
Therefore, the only function that satisfies the given relation is f ( p)  p , for all p  .
Problem 2. Let a, b, c be real numbers, such that 0  a  b  c and a  b  c  ab  bc  ca  0 .
Prove that bc (a  1)  2 . Find all triples (a, b, c) for which equality holds.
Solution. Let a  b  c  ab  bc  ca  k . Since (a  b  c)2  3(ab  bc  ca) , we get that k 2  3k .
Since, k  0 , we obtain that k  3 .
We have bc  ca  ab , so from the above relation we deduce that bc  1 .
By AM-GM, b  c  2 bc and consequently b  c  2 . The equality holds iff b  c .
The constraint gives us

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

b  c  bc bc  1 bc  1 bc (2  bc )
a  1  1  .
b  c 1 b  c 1 2 bc  1 2 bc  1
For bc  2 , condition a  0 gives bc (a  1)  2 with equality iff a  0 and b  c  2 .
For bc  2 , taking into account the estimation for a , we get
bc(2  bc ) bc
a bc   (2  bc ) .
2 bc  1 2 bc  1
bc
Since  1 , with equality for bc  1 , we get bc (a  1)  2 with equality iff a  b  c  1 .
2 bc  1
For bc  2 we have bc (a  1)  2(a  1)  2 .
The proof is complete.
The equality holds iff a  b  c  1 or a  0 and b  c  2 .
Problem 3. Let ABC be an acute triangle. Let X and Y be two distinct interior points of the segment
BC such that CAX  YAB . Suppose that:
1) K and S are the feet of perpendiculars from B to the lines AX and AY respectively;
2) T and L are the feet of perpendiculars from C to the lines AX and AY respectively.
Prove that KL and ST intersect on the line BC .
Solution.

Denote   XAB  YAC ,   CAX  BAY . Then, because the quadrilaterals ABSK and ACTL
are cyclic, we have
BSK  BAK  180  BSK    LAC  LTC  LTC   ,
so due to 90 -degree angles formed, we have KSL  KTL . Thus, KLST is cyclic.
Consider M to be the midpoint of BC and K ' to be symmetric point of K with respect to M . Then,
BKCK ' is a parallelogram, and so BK || CK ' . But BK || CT , because they are both perpendicular to AX .
So, K ' lies on CT and, as KTK '  90 and M is the midpoint of KK ' , MK  MT . In a similar way,
we have that MS  ML . Thus the center of ( KLST ) is M .
Consider D to be the foot of altitude from A to BC . Then, D belongs in both ( ABKS ) and ( ACLT ) .
So,
ADT  ACT  180  ABS  ADS  ADT  90    ADS  90   ,
And AD is the bisector of SDT .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Because DM is perpendicular to AD , DM is the external bisector of this angle, and, as MS  MT , it

follows that DMST is cyclic. In a similar way, we have that DMLK is also cyclic.
So, we have that ST , KL and DM are radical axes of these three circles, ( KLST ) , ( DMST ) , ( DMKL) .
These lines are, therefore, concurrent, and we have proved the desired result.
Second solution. We continue after proving that M is the center of ( KLST ) . If D is the foot of
perpendicular from A to BC , then ASDKB is cyclic, as well as ATDLC . The radical axes of those two
circles and ( KLST ) are concurrent, thus KS and LT intersect on point Q  AD . So, if P is the
intersection point of KL and TS , due to Brokard’s theorem, AQ is perpendicular to MP . This is, of
course, equivalent to proving that P belongs on BC .
Problem 4. A grid consists of all points of the form (m, n) where m and n are integers with | m | 2019 ,
| n | 2019 and | m |  | n | 4038 . We call the points (m, n) of the grid with either | m | 2019 or
| n | 2019 the boundary points. The four lines x  2019 and y  2019 are called boundary lines. Two
points in the grid are called neighbours if the distance between them is equal to 1.
Anna and Bob play a game on this grid.
Anna starts with a token at the point (0, 0) . They take turns, with Bob playing first.
1) On each of his turns, Bob deletes at most two boundary points on each boundary line.
2) On each of her turns, Anna makes exactly three steps, where a step consists of moving her token from
its current point to any neighbouring point, which has not been deleted.
As soon as Anna places her token on some boundary point which has not been deleted,
the game is over and Anna wins.
Does Anna have a winning strategy?
Solution. Anna does not have a winning strategy. We will provide a winning strategy for Bob. It is
enough to describe his strategy for the deletions on the line y  2019 .
Bob starts by deleting (0, 2019) and (1, 2019) . Once Anna completes her step, he deletes the next two
available points on the left if Anna decreased her x -coordinate, the next two available point to the left and
the next available point to the right if Anna did not change her x -coordinate. The only exception to the
above rule is on the very first time Anna decreases x by exactly 1 . In that step, Bob deletes the next
available point to the left and next available point to the right.
Bob’s strategy guarantees the following: If Anna makes a sequence of steps reaching ( x, y) , with x  0
and the exact opposite sequence of moves in the horizontal direction reaching ( x, y) then Bob deletes at
least as many points to the left of (0, 2019) in the first sequence than points to the right of (0, 2019) in the
second sequence.
So we may assume for contradiction that Anna wins by placing her token at (k , 2019) for some k  0 .
Define   3m  (2 x  y) where m is the total number of points deleted by Bob to the right of (0, 2019) ,
and ( x, y) is the position of Anna’s token.
For each sequence of steps performed first by Anna and then by Bob,  does not decrease. This can be
seen by looking at the following table exhibiting the changes in 3m and 2x  y . We have extended the
cases where 2 x  y  0 .

The table also shows that if in this sequence of steps Anna changes y by 1 or 2 , then  is increased
by 1 .Also, if Anna changes y by 2 or 1 then the first time this happens  is increased by 2 . (This also
holds if her move is (0, 1) or (2, 1) which are not shown in the table.)
Since Anna wins by placing her token at (k , 2019) we must have m  k  1 and k  2018 . So at that exact
moment we have:

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

  3m  (2k  2019)  k  2022  4 .

So in her last turn she must have decreased  by at least 4 . So her last step must have been (1, 2) or
(2,1) which give a decrease of 4 and 5 respectively. (It could not be (3, 0) because the she must have
already won. Also she could not have done just one or two moves in her last turn since this is not enough for
the required decrease in  .)
If her last step was (1, 2) then just before doing it we had y  2017 and   0 . This means that in one
of her steps the total change in y was not 0 mod 3 . However in that case we have seen that   0 , a
contradiction.
If her last step was (2,1) then just before doing it we had y  2018 and   0 or   1 . So she must
have made at least two steps with the change of y being 1 or 2 or at least one step with the change of y
being 2 or 1 . In both cases, consulting the table, we get an increase of at least 2 in  , a contradiction.
Note 1: If Anna is allowed to make at most three moves at each step, then she actually has a winning
strategy.
Note 2: If 2019 is replaced by N  1 then Bob has a winning strategy if and only if 3 | N .

Junior Balkan Mathematical Olimpiad

Saturday, June ,
Problem . Find all prime numbers p for which there exist non-negative integers x, y and z such that
the number
xp  yp  zp  x  y  z
is a product of exactly three distinct prime numbers.
Solution. For p  2 , we take x  y  4 and z  3 . Then x p  y p  z p  x  y  z  30  2  3  5 . For p  3 , we
can take x  3 and y  2 and z  1 . Then again x p  y p  z p  x  y  z  30  2  3  5 . For p  5 , we can take
x  2 and y  1 and z  1 . Again x p  y p  z p  x  y  z  30  2  3  5 .
Assume now that p  7 . Working modulo 2 and modulo 3 we see that the expression is divisible by both
2 and 3. Moreover, by Fermat`s Little Theorem, we have
x p  y p  z p  x  y  z  x  y  z  x  y  z  0mod p .
Therefore, by the given conditions, we have to solve the equation
xp  yp  z p  x  y  z  6p .
If one of the numbers x, y and z is bigger or equal to 2, let`s say x  2 , then
6 p  x p  x  x  x p 1  1  2  2 p 1  1  2 p  2 .
It is easy to check by induction that 2 p  2  6 p for all primes p  7 . This contradiction shows that there are
no more values of p which satisfy the required property.
Remark. There are couple of other ways to prove that 2 p  2  6 p for all primes p  7 . For example, we
can use the Binomial Theorem as follows:
p  p  1 p  p  1 p  2 
2p  2  1 p    2  1 p  3 p  5 p  2  6 p .
2 6
We can also use Bernoulli`s Inequality as follows:
2 p  2  8 1  1  2  8 1   p  3   2  8 p  18  6 p .
p 3

The last inequality is true for p  11 . For p  7 we can see directly that 2 p  2  6 p .
Problem . Let a, b be two distinct real numbers and let c be a positive real number such that
a4  2019a  b4  2019b  c .
Prove that  c  ab  0 .
Solution 1. Firstly, we can see that

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2019  a  b   a 4  b4   a  b  a  b   a 2  b2  .
Since a  b , we get  a  b   a 2  b2   2019 , so a  b  0 . Thus
2c  a 4  2019a  b 4  2019b 
 a 4  b 4  2019  a  b  
 a 4  b4   a  b   a 2  b2  
2

 2ab  a 2  ab  b 2  .
Hence ab  a 2  ab  b2   c  0 . Note that
a 2  ab  b2  1
2 a 2 2

 b2   a  b   0 ,

thus ab  0 . Finally, a 2  ab  b2   a  b   ab  ab (the equality does not occur since a  b  0 ). So

2

c  ab  a 2  ab  b2     ab    ab   c   c  ab  c .
2 2

Therefore, we have  c  ab  0 .
Solution 2. By Descartes` Rule of Signs, the polynomial p( x)  x4  2019 x  c has exactly one positive
root and exactly one negative root. So a, b must be its two real roots. Since one of them is positive and the
other is negative, then ab  0 . Let r  is be the two non-real roots of p( x) .
By Vieta, we have
ab  r 2  s 2   c, (1)
a  b  2r  0, (2)
ab  2ar  2br  r 2  s 2  0. (3)
Using (2) and (3), we have
r 2  s 2  2r  a  b   ab   a  b   ab  ab.
2
(4)
If in the last inequality we actually have an equality, then a  b  0 . Then (2) gives r  0 and (3) gives
s 2  ab . Thus the roots of p( x) are a, a, ia, ia. This would give that p( x)  x 4  a 4 , a contradiction.
So the inequality in (4) is strict and now from (1) we get
c    r 2  s 2  ab   ab  ,
2

which gives that ab   c .

Problem . Acute triangle ABC is such that AB  AC . The perpendicular bisector of side BC intersects
lines AB and AC at points P and Q , respectively. Let H be the orthocenter of triangle ABC , and let M
and N be the midpoints of segments BC and PQ , respectively. Prove that lines HM and AN meet on the
circumcircle of ABC .
Solution. We have
APQ  BPM  90  MBP  90  CBA  HCB,
and
AQP  MQC  90  QCM  90  ACB  CBH .
From this two equalities, we see that the triangles APQ and HCB are similar.
P
Moreover, since M and N are the midpoints of the segments BC and PQ
respectively, then the triangles AQN and HBM are also similar. Therefore,
N
we have ANQ  HMB .
A
Let L be the intersection of AN and HM . We have
L
MLN  180  LNM  NML  180  LMB  NML  180  NMB  90 . Q

Now, let D be the point on the circumcircle of ABC diametrically

opposite to A . It is known that D is also the reflection of point H over the H
point M . Therefore, we have that D belongs on HM and that
DLA  MLA  MLN  90 . But, as DA is the diameter of the circumcircle B C
M

D
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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

of ABC , the condition that DLA  90 is enough to conclude that L belongs on the circumcircle of ABC .
Remark. There is spiral similarity mapping AQP to HBC . Since the similarity maps AN to HM , it also
maps AH to NM , and since these two lines are parallel, the centre of the similarity is L  AN  HM . Since
the similarity maps BC to QP , its centre belongs on the circumcircle of BCX , where X  BQ  PC . But X
is the reflection of A on QM and so it must belong on the circumcircle of ABC . Hence so must L .
Problem . A 5 100 table is divided into 500 unit square cells, where n of them are coloured black and
the rest are coloured white. Two unit square cells are called adjacent if they share a common side. Each of
the unit square cells has at most two adjacent black unit square cells. Find the largest possible value of n .
Solution 1. If we color all cells along all edges of the table together with the entire middle row except the
second and the last-but-one cell, the condition is satisfied and there are 302 black cells. The figure below
exhibits this coloring for 5  8 case.

We can cover the table by one fragment like the first one on the figure below, 24 fragments like the middle
one, and one fragment like the third one.
a b a b h i h i

c a b f g h i m

c f g f g m

c d e f g j k m

d e d e j k j k

In each fragment, among the cells with the same letter, there are at most two colored black, so the total
number of colored cells is at most  5  24  6  1  2  2  302 .
Solution 2. Consider the cells adjacent to all cells of the second and fourth row. Counting multiplicity,
each cell in the first and the fifth row is counted once, each cell in the third row twice, while each cell in the
second and fourth row is also counted twice apart from their first and last cells which are counted only once.
So there are 204 cells counted once and 296 cells counted twice. Those cells contain, counting
multiplicity, at most 400 black cells. Suppose a of the cells have multiplicity one and b of them have
multiplicity 2. Then a  2b  400 and a  204 . Thus
2a  2b  400  a  604 ,
and so a  b  302 as required.
*******************************************
Asian Pacific mathematical olympiad
12.03.2019
Problems and Solutions

 
1. Let 
be the set of positive integers. Determine all functions f :  such that
a  f  a  f  b  is divisible by f  a   b for all positive integers a and b .
2

Answer: The answer is f  n   n for all positive integers n .

Clearly, f  n   n for all n 
satisfies the original relation. We show some possible

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

approaches to prove that this is the only possible function.

Solution. First we perform the following substitutions on the original relation:

1. With a  b 1, we find that f 1 1 | f 1 1, which implies f 1 1 .
2

2. With a 1 , we find that b 1 | f  b  1 . In particular, b  f  b  for all b 

.
3. With b 1 , we find that f  a  1 | a 2  f  a  , and thus f  a  1 | a 2 1 . In particular,
f  a   a 2  2 for all a  2.
Now, let p be any odd prime. Substituting a  p and b  f  p  in the original relation, we find

 
that 2 f  p  | p 2  f  p  f f  p  . Therefore, f  p  | p 2 . Hence the possible values of f  p  are
1, p and p 2 . By (2) above, f  p   p and by (3) above f  p   p 2  2 . So f  p   p for all primes
p.
Substituting a  p into the original relation, we find that b  p | p2  pf  b  . However, since
b  p   f b   p  b   p2  b2  bf b   pf b  , we have b  p | bf  b   b 2 . Thus, for any fixed b this
holds for arbitrarily large primes p and therefore we must have bf  b   b2  0 , or f  b   b , as desired. ■
Solution 2. As above, we have relations (1)-(3). In (2) and (3), for b  2 we have 3 | f  2  1 and
f  2  1 | 3 . These imply f  2   2.
Now, using a  2 we get 2  b | 4  2 f  b  . Let f  b   x . We have
1 x  0  mod b 1
4  2 x  0  mod b  2  .
From the first equation x  b  mod b 1 so x  b   b 1 t for some integer t  0 . Then
0  4  2 x  4  2  b   b 1 t   4  2  2  t  2t  mod b  2 .
Also t  b  2 because 1 x | b2 1 by (3).
If b  2 is odd, then t  0  mod b  2  . Then t  0 , which implies f  b   b .

 
If b  2 is even, then t  0 mod  b  2  / 2 . Then t  0 or t   b  2  / 2 . But if t  0 , then by
definition b  4 / 2  1 t    x 1 / b 1 and since x 1 | b2 1 , then  b  4  / 2 divides b 1 .
Therefore b  4 |10 and the only possibility is b  6 . So for even b, b  6 we have f  b   b .
Finally, by (2) and (3), for b  6 we have 7 | f  6  1 and f  6  1 | 35 . This means f  6   6
or f  6   34 . The later is discarded as, for a  5, b  6 , we have by the original equation that
11| 5  5  f  6   . Therefore f  n   n for every positive integer n .■
Solution 3. We proceed by induction. As in Solution 1, we have f 1 1 . Suppose that
f  n 1  n 1 for some integer n 2 .
With the substitution a  n and b  n 1 in the original relation we obtain that f  n  
n 1 | n2  f  n  n 1 . Since f  n   n 1 |  n 1  f  n   n 1 , then f  n   n 1 | 2n 1 .
With the substitution a  n 1 and b  n in the original relation we obtain that
2n 1|  n 1 2   n 1 f  n    n 1  n 1 f  n   .
Since  2n  –1
  , n  –1  1  , we deduce that 2n –1  | f   n    n –1 .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Therefore, f  n   n 1 2n 1 , which implies the desired f  n   n .■

2. Let m be a fixed positive integer. The infinite sequence an n1 is defined in the following
way: a1 is a positive integer, and for every integer n 1 we have
 an2 2m if an  2m

an 1   an
 if an  2m.
2

For each m , determine all possible values of a1 such that every term in the sequence is an
integer.
Answer: The only value of m for which valid values of a1 exist is m  2 . In that case, the only
solutions are a1  2l for l 1 .
Solution. Suppose that for integers m and a1 all the terms of the sequence are integers. For
each i 1 , write the i th term of the sequence as ai  bi 2 i where bi is the largest odd divisor of
c

ai (the “odd part” of ai ) and ci is a nonnegative integer.

Lemma 1. The sequence b1 , b2 , . . . is bounded above by 2m .
Proof. Suppose this is not the case and take an index i for which bi  2m and for which ci is
minimal. Since ai  bi  2m , we are in the second case of the recursion. Therefore, ai 1  ai / 2 and
thus bi 1  bi  2m and ci 1  ci 1 ci . This contradicts the minimality of ci .
Lemma 2. The sequence b1 , b2 , . . is nondecreasing.
Proof. If ai  2m , then ai 1  ai / 2 and thus bi 1  bi . On the other hand, if ai  2m , then
ai 1  ai2 2m  bi2 22ci  2m ,
and we have the following cases:
2ci  m
 If 2ci  m , then ai 1  2m (bi2 2  1), so bi 1  bi2 22ci m  1  bi ,
 If 2ci  m , then ai 1  2
2ci
(bi2  2m2ci ), so bi 1  bi2  2m2ci  bi ,
bi2  1 b2  1
 If 2ci  m , then ai 1  2m1  , so bi 1  i  bi since bi2  1  2(mod 4) .
2 2
By combining these two lemmas we obtain that the sequence b1 , b2 , . . is eventually constant. Fix an
index j such that bk  b j for all k  j. Since an descends to an / 2 whenever an  2m , there are
infinitely many terms which are smaller than 2m . Thus, we can choose an i  j such that ai  2m .
From the proof of Lemma 2, ai  2m and bi 1  bi can happen simultaneously only when 2ci  m
and bi 1  bi  1 . By Lemma 2, the sequence b1 , b2 , . . . is constantly 1 and thus a1 , a2 , . . are all powers
of two. Tracing the sequence starting from ai  2 i  2  2 ,
m /2 m c

2m/2  2m1  2m  2m1  22m2  2m ,

Note that this last term is a power of two if and only if 2m  2  m . This implies that m must
be equal to 2. When m 2 and a1  2l for l 1 the sequence eventually cycles through 2,8, 4, 2, . . ..
When m 2 and a1 1 the sequence fails as the first terms are 1, 5, 5 / 2. ■
Solution 2. Let m be a positive integer and suppose that an  consists only of positive
integers. Call a number small if it is smaller than 2m and large otherwise. By the recursion,
after a small number we have a large one and after a large one we successively divide by 2 until we
get a small one.

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

First, we note that an  is bounded. Indeed, a1 turns into a small number after a finite
number of steps. After this point, each small number is smaller than 2m , so each large number is
smaller than 22 m  2m. Now, since an  is bounded and consists only of positive integers, it is
eventually periodic. We focus only on the cycle.
Any small number an in the cycle can be writen as a / 2 for a large, so an  2m1 , then
an1  22 m2  2m  2m2  4  2m  , so we have to divide an 1 at least m1 times by 2 until we get
a small number. This means that an m   an2  2m  / 2m1 , so 2m1 | an2 , and therefore
( m 1)/2
2 | an for any small number an in the cycle. On the other hand, an  2m 1 , so
an1  22 m  2m1 1 2m  2m  2m 1 , so we have to divide an 1 at most m times by two until
we get a small number. This means that after an , the next small number is either
N  amn  (an2 / 2m1 )  2 or am n1  N / 2 /. Ina any case 2( m1)/2 divides N .
If m is odd, then x 2  2 mod 2  ( m 1)/ 2
 has a solution x  an / 2 m1/2 . I f  m 1 /2
2  m  5 then x2  2  mod 4  , which has no solution. So if m is odd, then m 3 .
( m1)/2
If is even, then 2m1 | an2  2 | an  2m/2 | an . Then if an  2m/2 x,
2 x2  2(mod 2m/2 )  x2  1(mod 2( m/2)1 ) which is not possible for . So if is even,
then m 4 .
The cases m1, 2, 3, 4 are handed manually, checking the possible small numbers in the
cycle, which have to be in the interval [2m1 , 2m ) and be divisible by 2
( m1)/2
:
 For m1 , the only small number is 1, which leads to 5, then 5/2.
 For m 2 , the only eligible small number is 2, which gives the cycle (2, 8, 4). The only way to
get to 2 is by dividing 4 by 2, so the starting numbers greater than 2 are all numbers that lead
to 4, which are the powers of 2.
 For m 3 , the eligible small numbers are 4 and 6; we then obtain 4, 24, 12, 6, 44, 22, 11, 11/2.
 For m 4 , the eligible small numbers are 8 and 12; we then obtain 8, 80, 40, 20, 10, . . . or 12, 160, 80,
40, 20, 10, . . ., but in either case 10 is not an elegible small number.
3. Let ABC be a scalene triangle with circumcircle Γ. Let M be the midpoint of BC . A variable
point P is selected in the line segment AM . The circumcircles of triangles BP M and CP M
intersect Γ again at points D and E , respectively. The lines DP and EP intersect (a second
time) the circumcircles to triangles CP M and BP M at X and Y , respectively. Prove that as P
varies, the circumcircle of AXY passes through a fixed point T distinct from A .
Solution. Let N be the radical center of the circumcircles of triangles ABC , BM P and
CM P. The pairwise radical axes of these circles are BD , CE and P M , and hence they concur at
N . Now, note that in directed angles:
M CE M P E M PY M BY .
It follows that BY is parallel to CE , and analogously that CX is parallel to BD . Then, if L is
the intersection of BY and CX , it follows that BN CL is a parallelogram. Since BM  M C we
deduce that L is the reflection of N with respect to M , and therefore L AM . Using power of a
point from L to the circumcircles of triangles BP M and CP M , we have
LY · LB  LP · LM  LX · LC .
Hence, BY XC is cyclic. Using the cyclic quadrilateral we find in directed angles:
LXY LBC BCN N DE.
Since CX || BN , it follows that XY || DE.

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Let Q and R be two points in Γ such that CQ , BR , and AM are all parallel. Then in
directed angles:
QDB QCB AM B P M B P DB.
Then D, P, Q are collinear. Analogously E, P, R are collinear. From here we get P RQ 
P DE P XY , since XY and DE are parallel. Therefore QRY X is cyclic. Let S be the
radical center of the circumcircle of triangle ABC and the circles BCY X and QRY X . This point
lies in the lines BC, QR and XY because these are the radical axes of the circles. Let T be the
second intersection of AS with Γ. By power of a point from S to the circumcircle of ABC and the
circle BCXY we have
SX · SY  SB · SC  ST · SA.
Therefore T is in the circumcircle of triangle AXY . Since Q and R are fixed regardless of the
choice of P , then S is also fixed, since it is the intersection of QR and BC . This implies T is also
fixed, and therefore, the circumcircle of triangle AXY goes through T  A for any choice of P .
Now we show an alternative way to prove that BCXY and QRXT are cyclic. ■
Solution 2. Let the lines DP and EP meet the circumcircle of ABC again at Q and R ,
respectively. Then DQCDBC DP M , so QC || P M . Similarly, RB || P M .
Now, QCB P M B P XC   QX , CX  , which is half of the arc QC in the
circumcircle C of QXC. So C is tangent to BS ; analogously,  B , the circumcicle of RY B , is
also tangent to BC . Since BR || CQ, the inscribed trapezoid BRQC is isosceles, and by
symmetry QR is also tangent to both circles, and the common perpendicular bisector of BR and
CQ passes through the centers of B and C . Since M B  M C and P M || BR || CQ, the line
P M is the radical axis of B and C .

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

However, P M is also the radical axis of the circumcircles  B of P M B and  C of P M C .

Let CX and P M meet at Z . Let p( K ,  ) denote the power of a point K with respect to a
circumference  . We have
p  Z , B   p  Z , C   ZX · ZC  p  Z ,B   p  Z ,C .
Point Z is thus the radical center of  B ,  C ,  B , C . Thus, the radical axes BY , CX , P M meet at
Z . From here,
ZY · ZB  ZC · ZX  BCXY cyclic
PY · P R  P X · PQ QRXT cyclic.
We may now finish as in Solution 1. ■

4. Consider a 2018  2019 board with integers in each unit square. Two unit squares are said to
be neighbours if they share a common edge. In each turn, you choose some unit squares. Then for
each chosen unit square the average of all its neighbours is calculated.
Finally, after these calculations are done, the number in each chosen unit square is replaced by
the corresponding average. Is it always possible to make the numbers in all squares become the
same after finitely many turns?
Answer: No
Solution. Let be a positive integer relatively prime to 2 and 3. We may study the whole
process modulo by replacing divisions by 2, 3, 4 with multiplications by the corresponding
inverses modulo If at some point the original process makes all the numbers equal, then the
process modulo will also have all the numbers equal. Our aim is to choose and an initial
configuration modulo for which no process modulo n reaches a board with all numbers equal
modulo . We split this goal into two lemmas.
Lemma 1. There is a 2  3 board that stays constant modulo 5 and whose entries are not
all equal.
Proof. Here is one such a board:

The fact that the board remains constant regardless of the choice of squares can be checked
square by square.
Lemma 2. If there is an r  s board with r  2, s  2 , that stays constant modulo 5, then there is
also a kr  ls board with the same property.
Proof. We prove by a case by case analysis that repeateadly reflecting the r  s with respect to an
edge preserves the property:
 If a cell had 4 neighbors, after reflections it still has the same neighbors.
 If a cell with a had 3 neighbors b, c, d , we have by hypothesis that a  31  b  c  d  
2  b  c  d  mod 5 . A reflection may add as a neighbor of the cell and now

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41  a  b  c  d   4  a  b  c  d   4a  2a  a  mod 5
 If a cell with had 2 neighbors we have by hypothesis that a  21  b  c   3  b  c  mod 5 . If
the reflections add one as neighbor, now
3  a  b  c   2 3 b  c   b  c  8 b  c   3 b  c   a mod 5  .
1

 If a cell with had 2 neighbors , we have by hypothesis that a  21  b  c   mod 5 . If the
reflections add two ’s as neighbors, now
41  2a  b  c    21 a  21 a   a  mod 5 .
In the three cases, any cell is still preserved modulo 5 after an operation. Hence we can fill in
the kr  ls board by k  l copies by reflection.
Since 2|2018 and 3|2019, we can get through reflections the following board:

By the lemmas above, the board is invariant modulo 5, so the answer is no. ■

5. Determine all the functions f :  such that

f  x  f  y    f  f  x    f  y 2   2 f  xy 
2

for all real number x and y.

Answer: The possible functions are f  x   0 for all x and f  x   x 2 for all x .
Solution. By substituting x  y  0 in the given equation of the problem, we obtain that f  0   0 .

  
Also, by substituting y  0 , we get f x 2  f f  x  for any x. 
Furthermore, by letting y 1 and simplifying, we get
2 f  x   f  x2  f 1   f  x2   f 1 ,
from which it follows that f   x   f  x  must hold for every x .
Suppose now that f  a   f  b  holds for some pair of numbers a, b . Then, by letting y  a and
y  b in the given equation, comparing the two resulting identities and using the fact that
f  a 2   f  f  a    f  f  b    f  b2  also holds under the assumption, we get the fact that
f  a   f  b   f  ax   f  bx  for any real number x .
Consequently, if for some a  0, f  a   0 , then we see that, for any x,
 x  x
f  x   f  a ·   f  0 ·   f 0  0 ,
 a  a
which gives a trivial solution to the problem.
In the sequel, we shall try to find a non-trivial solution for the problem. So, let us assume from
now on that if a  0 then f  a   0 must hold. We first note that since f f  x   f x 2 for all    
   
x, the right-hand side of the given equation equals f x 2  f y 2  2 f  xy  , which is invariant
if we interchange x and y . Therefore, we have
f  x2   f  y 2   2 f  xy   f  x 2  f  y    f  y 2  f  x   , for every pair x, y . (2)

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Next, let us show that for any x, f  x   0 must hold. Suppose, on the contrary, f  s   t 2 holds for
some pair s, t of non-zero real numbers. By setting x  s, y  t in the right hand side of (2), we
   
get f s 2  f  t   f t 2  f  s   f  0   0, so f  t    s 2 .

We also have f  t   f  t   f  f  s    f  s  .
2 2 2
By applying (2) with x  s 2  t 2 and
y  s , we obtain
  
f s 2  t 2  2 f s · s 2  t 2  0, 
and similarly, by applying (2) with x  s 2  t 2 and y  t we obtain

  
f s 2  t 2  2 f t · s 2  t 2  0. 
Consequently, we obtain

  
f t · s2  t 2  f s · s2  t 2 
By applying (1) with a  s · s 2  t 2 , b  t · s 2  t 2 and x 1 / s 2  t 2 , we obtain
f (s)  f (t )  s 2 , from which it follows that
0  f  s2  f  s   f  s2   f  s2   2 f  s2   4 f  s2  ,
a contradiction to the fact s 2  0 . Thus we conclude that for all x  0, f  x   0 must be
satisfied.
Now, we show the following fact
k  0, f  k  1 k 1. (3)

   
Let k  0 for which f  k  1 . We have f k 2  f f  k   f 1 , so by 1 , f 1/ k   f  k  1 , so we

may assume k 1 . By applying (2) with x  k 2 1 and y  k , and using f  x   0 , we get

   
f k 2  1  f (k )  f k 2  1  f (k 2 )  2 f (k k 2  1)  f (k 2  1)  f (k 2 ).

This simplifies to 0 f k 2
1  0 , so k 2 1  0 and thus k = 1.
Next we focus on showing f 1 1. If f 1  m 1, then we may proceed as above by
setting x  1 m and y 1 to get m 1 . If f 1  m 1, now we note that

f  m   f  f 1   f 12   f 1  m  m2 . We may then proceed as above with x  m2  m and

y 1 to show m2  m and thus m 1 .
We are now ready to finish. Let x  0 and m  f  x  . Since f  f  x    f  x 2  , then
f  x2   f  m . But by (1), 
f m / x 2 1 .  Therefore m  x2 . For x0 , we have
f  x   f   x   f  x 2  as well. Therefore, for all x, f  x   x 2 .■
Solution 2. After proving that f  x   0 for x  0 as in the previous solution, we may also proceed as
follows. We claim that f is injective on the positive real numbers. Suppose that a  b  0 satisfy
f  a   f  b  . Then by setting x 1 / b in (1) we have f  a / b   f 1 . Now, by induction on n and
iteratively setting x  a / b in (1) we get f  a / b  1 for any positive integer n.
n

Now, let m  f 1 and n be a positive integer such that  a / b

n
m. By setting

x  (a / b)n  m and y 1 in (2) we obtain that

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

 a / b  m  f (1)  f  a / b   m  f (1 )  2 f (  a / b   m )  f a / b   m   f (1).

f
n n 2 n n

Since f   a / b    f 1 , this last equation simplifies to f   a / b   m   0 and thus

n n

m   a / b  . But this is impossible since m is constant and a / b 1 . Thus, f is injective on the

n

   
positive real numbers. Since f f  x   f x 2 , we obtain that f  x   x 2 for any real value x. ■
***********************************************

7th European mathematical cup

08 December 2018 – 16 December 2018

Category Junior
Problem 1. Let a, b, c be non-zero real numbers such that
1
a2  b  c 
a
1
b2  c  a  .
b
1
c2  a  b 
c
Prove that at least two of a, b, c are equal.
Problem 2. Find all pairs ( x, y) of positive integers such that
xy | x2  2 y  1 .
Problem 3. Let ABC be an accute triangle with | AB || AC | and orthocenter H . The circle with
center A and radius | AC | intersects the circumcircle of ABC at point D and the circle with center of A
and radius | AB | intersects the segment AD at point K . The line through K parallel to CD intersects BC
at point L . If M is the midpoint of BC and N is the foot of the perpendicular from H to AL , prove that
the line MN bisects the segment AH .

Problem 4. Let n be a positive integer. Ana and Banana are playing the following game:
First, Ana arranges 2n coups in a row on a table, each facing upside-down. She then places a ball
under a cup and makes a hole in the table under some other cup. Banana then gives a finite sequence of
commands to Ana, where each command consists two adjecent cups in the row.
Her goal is to achieve that the ball has fallen into the hole during the game. Assuming Banana has no
information about the position of the hole and the position of the ball at any point, what is the smallest
number of commands she has to giv in order to achieve her goal?

Category Senior
Problem 1. A partition of a positive integer is even if all its elements are even numbers.
Similarly, a partition is odd if all its elements are odd. Determine all positive integers n such that
the number of even partitions of n is equal to the number of odd partitions of n .
Remark: A partition of a positive integer n is a non-decreasing sequence of positive integers
whose sum of elements equals n . For example, (2,3,4) , (1,2,2,2,2) and (9) are partitions of 9 .
Problem 2. Let ABC be a triangle with | AB | | AC | . Let k be the circumcircle of ABC and let
O be the center of k . Point M is the midpoint of the arc BC of k not containing A . Let D be the
second intersection of the perpendicular line from M

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

Problem 3. For which real numbers k 1 does there exist a bounded set of positive real
numbers S with at least 3 elements such that
k (a b) S
for all a,b S with a b ?
Remark: A set of positive real numbers S is bounded if there exists a positive real number M
such that x M for all x S .
Problem 4. Let x, y,m,n be integers greather than 1 such that
.x .y
x. y.
xx yy
m times n times
Does it follows that m n ?
Remark: This is a tetration operation, so we can also write mx n y for the initial condition.

*********************************************************

EGMO 2019, Kyiv, Ukraine

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Problem 1. Find all triples (a, b, c) of real numbers such that ab  bc  ca  1 and
a 2b  c  b2 c  a  c 2 a  b .
Problem 2. Let n be a positive integer. Dominoes are placed on a 2n  2n board in such a way that every
cell of the board is adjacent to exactly one cell covered by a domino. For each n , determine the largest
number of dominoes that can be placed in this way.
(A domino is a tile of size 2 1 or 1 2 . Dominoes are placed on the board in such a way that each domino
covers exactly two cells of the board, and dominoes do not overlap. Two cells are said to be adjacent if they
are different and share a common side.)

Problem 3. Let ABC be a triangle such that CAB  ABC , and let I be its incentre. Let D be the point
on segment BC such that CAD  ABC . Let  be the circle tangent to AC at A and passing through I .
Let X be the second point of intersection of  and the circumcircle of ABC . Prove that the angle bisectors
of DAB and CXB intersect at a point on line BC .

EGMO 2019, Kyiv, Ukraine

Wednesday, April 10 2019

Problem 4. Let ABC be a triangle with incentre I . The circle through B tangent to AI at I meets side
AB again at P . The circle through C tangent to AI at I meets side AC again at Q . Prove that PQ is
tangent to the incircle of ABC .
Problem 5. Let n  2 be an integer, and let a1 , a2 , an be positive integers. Show that there exist positive
integers b1 , b2 , bn satisfying the following three conditions:

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 Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

(A) ai  bi for i  1, 2, , n ;
(B) the remainders of b1 , b2 , bn on division by n are pairwise different; and
 n  1  a1   an  
(C) b1   bn  n    .
 2  n 
(Here,  x  denotes the integer part of real number x , that is, the largest integer that does not exceed
x .)
Problem 6. On a circle, Alina draws 2019 chords, the endpoints of which are all different. Points are
considered marked if they are either
(i) one of the 4038 endpoints of a chord; or
(ii) an intersection point of at least two chords.
Alina labels each marked point. Of the 4038 points meeting criterion (i), Alina labels 2019 points with a 0
and the other 2019 points with a 1. She labels each point meeting criterion (ii) with an arbitrary integer (not
necessarily positive).
Along each chord, Alina considers the segments connecting two consecutive marked points. (A chord
with k marked points has k  1 such segments.) She labels each such segment in yellow with the sum of the
labels of its two endpoints and in blue with the absolute value of their difference.
Alina finds that the N  1 yellow labels take each value 0,1, , N exactly once. Show that at least one
blue label is a multiple of 3.
(A chord is a line segment joining two different points on a circle.)

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XXII Mediterranean Mathematical Olympiad 2019
Problem 1
In the triangle ABC, in which A  60º , D  ( BC ) is such that AD is the internal bisector of
angle A . Let it be rB , rC and r , respectively , the inradiuses of the triangles ABD, ADC and ABC.
Show that
1 1 1 1 1
  2    ,
rB rC r b c
where b and c are the lengths of the sides AC and AB of the triangle ABC.

Problem 2
Let m1 m2 ... ms be a sequence of s 2 positive integers, none of which can be written as the
sum of (two or more) distinct other numbers in the sequence. For every integer r with 1 r s prove
that
r mr ms (r 1)(s 1) .

Problem 3
Prove that there exist infinitely many positive integers x, y, z for which the sum of the digits in the
decimal representation of 4x 4 y4 z2 4xyz is at most 2 .

Problem 4
Let P be an interior point to an equilateral triangle of altitude one. If x, y, z are the distances from
P to the sides of the triangle, then prove that
x 2 y 2 z 2 x3 y 3 z 3 6xyz .

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Macedonian mathematical olympiads 2019

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CONTENTS

XXVI MACEDONIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD 5

XXIII JUNIOR MACEDONIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD 8
XXXVI BALKAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD 10
XXIII JUNIOR BALKAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD 14
XXXI Asian-Pacific Mathematical Olympiad 16
VII European mathematical cup 24
VIII European girls mathematical olympiad 25
XXII Mediterranean mathematical olympiad 26

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