IMO 2001 · Problem 3

Twenty-one girls and twenty-one boys took part in a mathematical contest.

  • Each contestant solved at most six problems.
  • For each girl and each boy, at least one problem was solved by both of them.

Prove that there was a problem that was solved by at least three girls and at least three boys.

Official text of the problem. Official problem paper (PDF)

Solution

Suppose, for a contradiction, that no problem was solved by at least three girls and at least three boys. Consider only problems solved by at least one contestant, and partition them into two classes:

  • \(\mathcal A\): problems solved by at most two girls;
  • \(\mathcal B\): problems solved by at least three girls, hence by at most two boys.

Every girl solved at least one problem in \(\mathcal A\). Indeed, otherwise all her problems would belong to \(\mathcal B\). Since she solved at most six problems, each solved by at most two boys, she could share a solved problem with at most \(12\) boys, contradicting the hypothesis. Consequently, every girl solved at most five problems in \(\mathcal B\).

Similarly, every boy solved at least one problem in \(\mathcal B\): otherwise his at most six problems, all in \(\mathcal A\), could connect him to at most \(12\) girls. Thus every boy solved at most five problems in \(\mathcal A\).

For each problem \(p\), let \(g_p\) and \(b_p\) denote the numbers of girls and boys who solved it. Since each of the \(21^2=441\) girl–boy pairs shares at least one solved problem, \[ 441\le \sum_{p\in\mathcal A}g_pb_p+\sum_{p\in\mathcal B}g_pb_p. \] On the other hand, \[ \sum_{p\in\mathcal A}g_pb_p \le 2\sum_{p\in\mathcal A}b_p \le 2\cdot21\cdot5=210, \] because each boy solved at most five problems in \(\mathcal A\). Likewise, \[ \sum_{p\in\mathcal B}g_pb_p \le 2\sum_{p\in\mathcal B}g_p \le 2\cdot21\cdot5=210. \] Together these inequalities give \(441\le420\), a contradiction.

Therefore some problem was solved by at least three girls and at least three boys. \(\square\)

The solution was checked against Evan Chen's published IMO solution notes.