IMC Key Stage 3 · 10. Combinatorial puzzles, games and extremal problems
List cases in order, mark cells to bound tilings, plan against the worst reply in games, and answer every extremal question with a bound plus a construction.
IMC Key Stage 3 – Selected topics
List all cases of a small puzzle systematically and use hidden information.
Use marking/colouring and area to bound the number of pieces in a tiling.
Find guaranteed strategies by working backwards and balancing the opponent's choices.
Solve maximum/minimum problems with a bound and a matching construction.