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Winning strategy for a 2024 cell-row in the Centro

Source: Centroamerican and Caribbean Math Olympiad 2024 P2

October 17, 2024
OMCCcombinatoricswinning strategy

Problem Statement

There is a row with 20242024 cells. Ana and Beto take turns playing, with Ana going first. On each turn, the player selects an empty cell and places a digit in that space. Once all 20242024 cells are filled, the number obtained from reading left to right is considered, ignoring any leading zeros. Beto wins if the resulting number is a multiple of 9999, otherwise Ana wins. Determine which of the two players has a winning strategy and describe it.