You are on page 1of 6

Hi, This document contains questions on selecting coins. I have included various types of questions.

However, I am going with maximum of two players, as it is the usual pattern in MBA exams. A common assumption: Both players play in best possible manner trying to win the game.

Question 1: (Easy to start with) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally %1 coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( Answer A should start with ! coin "olution Minimum coins # ! Maximum coins # $ Add them. %e get &. It means, if player pic's (x) num*er of coins, other one can pic' (&+x) num*er coins to ma'e total as &. "o, if we go on negating &, we will *e left with ,!-& # ! coin. "o, the one who pic's this coin wins the game. "o, at first move, A has to ma'e sure that he pic's such a num*er of coins so than remaining coins are multiple of &. "o, he pic's ! coin. .ow, with ,/ coins left and B to play0 even if B pic's any num*er of coins, A can pic' (&+ x) coins where (x) is num*er of coins pic'ed *y B. "ay, B pic's ,0 A will pic' 1. "o, A will go on ma'ing groups of &. "o, A will surely get last coin2s3 to pic'.

Question %: ()light modi!ication o! *uestion 1) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1+, coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win(

Answer A will pic' , coins to ensure his win. .ow, even if there are thousands of coins, we can find the answer.

Question +: (A di!!erent version o! *uestion 1 and %) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1-. coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( Answer A cannot win in any case. Here, A is facing num*er of coins which are multiple of &. "o, he is in a similar situation of B in previous two pro*lems. "o, here B can negate A and win the game.

Question ": ()imilar to 1 and %) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and /# both included. $here are totally "1 coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution Here minimum is ! and maximum is 4. "o, we need to loo' for remainder *y 5. "o, A should start with 4 coins in order to ensure his win.

Question 0: (1pposite situation) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1%1 coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin loses. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution A cannot win here. A may pic' any num*er of coins, say x0 B will pic' (&+x) coins. "o, in the end A will *e faced with one coin which he has to pic'.

Question /: (1ne more opposite situation) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1%% coins. $he last one

who pic&s a coin loses. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution .ow, !,,-& # ,. "o, A should pic' ,+! i.e. ! coin. And then whatever B pic's, go on negating him with &. In the end, it will *e li'e ! 6 2multiple of &3 6 !. "o, B has to pic' last remaining coin.

Question ,: (Based on *uestion /) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1%" coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin loses. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution .ow, !,$-& # $. "o, A should pic' ,+! i.e. 1 coins. And then onwards, go on negating B.

Question -: (Based on *uestion /) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 1%0 coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin loses. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution .ow, A should start with $ coins and then go on negating B. "o, in the end it will *e $ 6 2multiple of &3 6 !. The last coin will *e pic'ed *y B.

Question 2: (A ma3or change over previous *uestions) A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between % and ,# both included. $here are totally "1 coins. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 'ow many coins should A pic& in the beginning to ensure his win( "olution Here minimum 6 maximum is 7. And $!-7 # &. "o, A should start with & coins and then go on negating B. .ote Approach remains same. "o, not explaining for other situations.

Question 1.: (4i!!erent type# ta&en !rom 56) A and B play a game where there are 0. coins on the table. $he rule is that# the !irst player pic&s up some coins# but not all# !rom the table. $he player ta&ing ne7t turn cannot pic& up more in their turn than the previous player too&. $wo players ta&e turns in this manner to pic& up coins# until the last coin is pic&ed up# and the player to do so is declared the winner. )upposing both A and B play intelligently and it is A s turn !irst# what strategy should A adopt# to ensure his win. "olution Here, we can start thin'ing with lowest possi*le num*er coins as that controls how many coins other one can pic'. "8, if A pic's ! coins, he is going to lose as B will also pic' ! coins. "o, it will *e 2!6!3, 2!6!3, 9. As we have even num*er of coins, A is *ound to lose. .ow, if A pic's two coins B has two options. ! or ,. As $: coins are left, if B pic's ! coin, A will go on pic'ing ! coin and it will *e 2!6!3, 2!6!3.. starting with B. "8, A will win. "8, B cannot go for !. .ow, if B foes for , coins. A will 'eep going for , coins. As we have $: coins, it will *e 2,6,3, 2,6,3.. And $: is divisi*le *y $. "8, A will win. "o, If A starts with , coins, he will win for sure as even if B goes for ! coin or , coins, he will lose. .ote ;or such questions, it is *etter to start with lowest possi*le value. And of course, we should loo' at options first for such questions.

Question 11: (Question 1. with di!!erent number o! coins) A and B play a game where there are "2 coins on the table. $he rule is that# the !irst player pic&s up some coins# but not all# !rom the table. $he player ta&ing ne7t turn cannot pic& up more in their turn than the previous player too&. $wo players ta&e turns in this manner to pic& up coins# until the last coin is pic&ed up# and the player to do so is declared the winner. )upposing both A and B play intelligently and it is A s turn !irst# what strategy should A adopt# to ensure his win. "olution <asy one. A start with ! coin. As we have odd num*er of coins, surely A will get to pic' last coin as each player now can pic' only ! coin.

Question 1%: (Question 1. with di!!erent number o! coins)

A and B play a game where there are /" coins on the table. $he rule is that# the !irst player pic&s up some coins# but not all# !rom the table. $he player ta&ing ne7t turn cannot pic& up more in their turn than the previous player too&. $wo players ta&e turns in this manner to pic& up coins# until the last coin is pic&ed up# and the player to do so is declared the winner. )upposing both A and B play intelligently and it is A s turn !irst# what strategy should A adopt# to ensure his win. "olution A cannot win if num*er of coins are power of ,. A may pic' any num*er of coins, B will win. If A pic's odd num*er of coins, B will pic' ! coin. "o, we are left with even num*er of coins and *oth can pic' maximum ! coin now. "o, it will *e 2!6!3, 2!6!3.. with B pic'ing last coin. If A starts with even num*er of coins, which are multiples of $0 B will pic' $ coins. "o, now we will *e left with $x coins and as we have seen with initial question with &/ coins, the one who is faced with a multiple of $ loses. And if A pic's even num*er of coins which are not multiple of $, B will pic' , coins. Again A will *e faced with num*er of coins which are multiple of $. "o, B will win.

I have covered most of the *asic questions. .ow, these questions can *e manipulated li'e last one wins or last one loses, *ut approach remains same most of the times. .ow, let us have slightly tric'y questions. They will loo' simpler if we are clear with approach. Question 1: A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 7 coins where can be any natural number between 1.1 and %... $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 8! A starts the game# what is the probability A wins the game. "olution .ow, we 'now that A will win unless there are &' coins where (') is a constant. "o, pro*a*ility of A winning # $=&. Question %: A and B are playing a game in which they have to select n number o! coins. n can be between 1 and "# both included. $here are totally 7 coins where can be any natural number between %+ and %-2. $he last one who pic&s a coin wins. 8! A starts the game# what is the probability A wins the game. "olution .ow, total num*er # ,:7+,, # ,45 .um*ers which are divisi*le *y & # &5+$ # &1 "o, pro*a*ility of A winning # 2,45+&13=,45 # ,!$=,45

I will stop here. In case, you come across some different type, you can always post on >?.

You might also like