2020 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 16

Problem

Bela and Jenn play the following game on the closed interval $[0, n]$ of the real number line, where $n$ is a fixed integer greater than $4$ . They take turns playing, with Bela going first. At his first turn, Bela chooses any real number in the interval $[0, n]$ . Thereafter, the player whose turn it is chooses a real number that is more than one unit away from all numbers previously chosen by either player. A player unable to choose such a number loses. Using optimal strategy, which player will win the game?

$\textbf{(A)} \text{ Bela will always win.} \qquad \textbf{(B)} \text{ Jenn will always win.} \qquad \textbf{(C)} \text{Bela will win if and only if }n \text{ is odd.}$ $\textbf{(D)} \text{Jenn will win if and only if }n \text{ is odd.} \qquad \textbf{(E)} \text { Jenn will win if and only if } n>8.$

Solution

2020 AMC 10B (Problems • Answer Key • Resources)
Preceded by Problem 15	Followed by Problem 17
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25
All AMC 10 Problems and Solutions

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2020 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 16

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