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battleship game, revisited (VI Soros Olympiad 1990-00 R1 9.6)

Source:

May 27, 2024
combinatorics

Problem Statement

On the "battleship" field (a square of 10×1010\times 10 cells), 1010 "ships" are placed in the following sequence: first one "ship" of size 1×41\times 4, then two - of size 1×31\times 3, three - of size 1×21\times 2, and, finally, four - 1×11\times 1. The rules do not allow "ships" to touch each other even with their tops. Can it happen that when part of the "ships" have already been displayed, there is nowhere to place the next one?