#649 - Low-Prime Chessboard Nim
The game may start with any arrangement of \(c\) coins in squares on the board. It is possible at any time for more than one coin to occupy the same square on the board at the same time. The coins are distinguishable, so swapping two coins gives a different arrangement if (and only if) they are on different squares.
On a given turn, the player must choose a coin and move it either left or up \(2\), \(3\), \(5\), or \(7\) spaces in a single direction. The only restriction is that the coin cannot move off the edge of the board.
The game ends when a player is unable to make a valid move, thereby granting the other player the victory.
Assuming that Alice goes first and that both players are playing optimally, let \(M(n, c)\) be the number of possible starting arrangements for which Alice can ensure her victory, given a board of size \(n\) by \(n\) with \(c\) distinct coins.
For example, \(M(3, 1) = 4\), \(M(3, 2) = 40\), and \(M(9, 3) = 450304\).
What are the last \(9\) digits of \(M(10\,000\,019, 100)\)?
Problem text © Project Euler, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Original: projecteuler.net/problem=649. Published Saturday, 29th December 2018, 01:00 pm. Solved by 522 members at time of mirroring.
Why this is useful
Algorithmic Development. Graph/state-space search transfers to routing, dependency resolution, and execution-path optimisation (Phases 16, 17).
We classify relevance honestly - not every Euler problem is a trading application.
Prerequisites
Lessons that prepare you:
1.3 Proof Techniques: Direct, Contrapositive, and Contradiction · 17.1 Python for Quants: NumPy, pandas, and Vectorization · 19.5 Combinatorics: Counting, Binomials, and Inclusion–Exclusion · 19.1 Divisibility, GCD, and the Euclidean Algorithm · 19.7 Dynamic Programming: Memoization and Tabulation · 19.9 Graph Algorithms: BFS, DFS, Dijkstra, and Minimum Spanning Trees · 19.3 Modular Arithmetic, Inverses, and Fast Exponentiation · 19.11 Integer Partitions and Counting Structures · 19.10 Search: Backtracking, Branch-and-Bound, Binary Search, Meet-in-the-Middle · 19.2 Primes, Sieves, and Integer Factorization · 3.1 Vectors, Multivariable Functions, and Level Sets · 7.1 Probability Spaces, Random Variables, and Distributions
Recommended stepping-stone problems: #333 · #944 · #860
Concepts: combinatorics game-theory geometry graph-theory number-theory
Likely techniques: grundy hashing prime-test
Learning mode
Pick how much scaffolding you want. Your choice is remembered per problem.
Understand the problem
- What exactly is the input to problem 649? Is it a bound (10000019), a supplied dataset, or a definition you must generate from?
- What is the required output - restate it precisely: a single residue (the answer is reduced modulo a given number, so keep everything in modular arithmetic from the start).
- Which objects exactly are in scope, and which are excluded by the wording (strict vs non-strict inequality, 'distinct', 'proper', 'below' vs 'up to')?
- What do the arguments of M(n,c), M(3,1) mean, and what is the value's type (count, sum, probability)?
- What are the edge cases: the smallest legal object, zero/one, ties, and the boundary at exactly 10000019?
- Why is brute force hard HERE specifically? Estimate the number of candidates implied by 10000019 and the cost of testing one.
- Which combinatorics fact would, if true, collapse the search - and can you state it as a testable claim before you look for a proof?
Predict & plan (before you code)
- Predict the strategy: in one sentence, what will your solution do? (The classification says combinatorics / grundy - do you agree, and why?)
- Predict the complexity of your intended method in terms of N = 10000019, and the wall-clock time you expect. Write both down now.
- Predict the key data structure: what is stored, keyed by what, and how large will it get at full scale?
- Predict the failure mode: what is most likely to break - an off-by-one on the bound, a definition misread, precision, or memory?
- Predict the output of the small case from rung 3 BEFORE running it (the statement says: "For example, M(3, 1) = 4, M(3, 2) = 40, and M(9, 3) = 450304.") - then run it. A surprise here is worth more than an hour of debugging later.
Scratchpad
Mathematical notes, formulas, pseudocode, hypotheses, complexity notes. Saved automatically with your progress.
Python workbench
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Check your answer
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Progressive hints
Optimization
You have a correct answer. That is the start of the learning, not the end.
- Reduce the time complexity. What is the bottleneck, and what mathematical fact removes it?
- Reduce memory. Can you stream, or keep only the last k states?
- Replace brute force with a closed form, a sieve, a recurrence, or a symmetry argument.
- Prove the optimized version computes the same thing.
- Compare two implementations and time them.
Explain it
Which step of your solution were you least confident about, and what evidence would settle it?
What did you try first, and what specifically made you abandon it - a proof, a timing, or a wrong small-case answer?
Where did the combinatorics structure do the real work? Name the single observation that collapsed the search space.
Could you have reached the grundy idea faster? Which words in the statement were pointing at it, and did you notice them?
What was the bug that cost you the most time, and what CLASS of bug was it (off-by-one, definition misread, precision, state under-specified)?
How would your solution change if the bound 10000019 were multiplied by 1000? Does it survive, or does it need a different idea?
What is the honest complexity of what you wrote (not what you intended), and where is the remaining slack?
Which problem you have already solved is this most similar to, and what is the shared skeleton - is it really 'grundy' underneath?
State the transferable technique in one sentence, without mentioning this problem's story at all.
Self-assess (mastery is not a correct number)
You reach Mastered only when you have solved it, rated yourself at least Solid across the dimensions, and written a real explanation.
Confidence
Low confidence schedules this problem for spaced review, even if you solved it.
Mastery check
- Variation: change the bound (or a rule) in the statement. Does your method still work? What breaks first?
- Constraints: if the limit were 10× larger, which step fails, and what would you replace it with?
- Related problem: #333 · #944 · #860
- Transfer: where else does this technique appear? Name a lesson and a real computational setting.
- Spaced re-attempt: come back after the review interval and re-solve it with no hints.