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Albert and Barbara paly a game with 1999 sticks, winning strategy wanted

Source: 1999 ITAMO p4

January 25, 2020
combinatoricsgamegame strategywinning strategy

Problem Statement

Albert and Barbara play the following game. On a table there are 19991999 sticks, and each player in turn removes some of them: at least one stick, but at most half of the currently remaining sticks. The player who leaves just one stick on the table loses the game. Barbara moves first. Decide which player has a winning strategy and describe that strategy.