INMO prepration by Pramit Das

Many of you asked me about preparation strategies about INMO . In this

post , I’ll try to provide an overall perspective about INMO preparation .

General strategies :
 Identify the easiest problem on the paper. Usually it’s the 1st
geometry , i.e. problem no. 1 . If you’re not too comfortable in
geometry , try to find the easiest problem in your forte .
 Don’t get anxious if you can’t complete any solution in the very first
hour. INMO is much harder than RMO and often the problems
require time. Don’t lose your confidence.
 INMO grading is very strict. Don’t miss out even trivial
explanations. Trivial mistakes may cost you 3-4 points . Be as
concise as you can be, but not at the cost of rigor.
 1 complete solution yields more points than 2 partials in general.
 Number Theory : The most important strategy is to think in a fresh
brain . You won’t be asked too much technical NT questions in
INMO . The best idea is to keep it simple , just go back to the basics
and revisit modular arithmetic , primes , factorization ,
divisibility etc. Most of these questions can be solved with few basic
theories + common sense in INMO . You may also refer to a few
advanced topics like , order , LTE etc.
 Algebra : There isn’t any single source , but the most important
topics are polynomials ( roots ad irreducibility)and
Functional equations . The best source of problems are various old
olympiad papers and AOPS .http://www.artofproblemsolving.com
. Inequalities are mostly solved using AM-GM-HM , Cauchy-
Scwartz and Jenson’s inequality .
 Geometry : A good idea is to revisit all the theorems from
Excursion or CTPCM ( Pre-college). Most of the problems solved
 using standard theorems and trigonometry , but some of you may
prefer to go through advanced techniques like , complex numbers ,
inversion , spiral similarity etc.
 Combinatorics : The best way is to solve problems and go through
standard examples and exercise from Arthur Engel .

BOOKS and SOURCES:

 NT structures and examples by Titu Andreescu

 Geometry by Coxeter
 Path to UG combinatorics by Titu Andreescu
 NT by David Burton
 Algebra notes of MOSP( USA) and Canada IMO training .
 Excursion
 Pre-college ( CTPCM)
 Arthur Engel ( PSS)
 B.J. Venkatchala : Functional equations
 Contest page of AOPS
 Polynomials by E.J. Barbeau
 British maths olympiad questions
 HBCSE site for old INMO and RMO papers