The squad members are:

• James Allen, Kristin Senior School
• Jerry Chen, Auckland International College
• Natalia Chen, St Andrew’s College, and now St Cuthbert’s College
• Byung-Cheol Cho, Auckland Grammar School
• George Han, Westlake Boys’ High School
• Peter Huxford, Newlands College
• Hao Jeng, Hillcrest High School
• Jaehwan Kim, King’s College
• Vincent Qi, Onslow College
• Ian Seong, Burnside High School, and now Macleans College
• Arun Chockalingam Shanmuganathan, Auckland International College
• Boyd Siripornpitak, Auckland International College.

The team will be accompanied by:

• Dr Christopher Tuffley, Massey University (Leader)
• Dr Peter Nelson, Victoria University of Wellington (Deputy Leader)
• Stephen McConnachie, Middleton Grange School (Manager).

• James Allen, Kristin School (60)
• Arun Shanmuganathan, Auckland International College (59)
• George Han, Westlake Boys’ High School (57).

Congratulations to all, and a big thanks to the BMOC for allowing us to take part.

After a spell of training at Grafton Hall, the team left for Auckland Airport and then for Amsterdam. The journey was rather cumbersome with the destination inconveniently located at roughly the other end of the world. We make several stops between our flights to satisfy Stephen’s craving for Burger King (and for our planes to refuel – but that’s beside the point). Finally, we arrive disorientated at Schiphol Airport where we were greeted by the Dutch leader Johan. While he arranged for us to travel to Texel – the place where the joint Dutch-NZ training will be held – we bid goodbye to Chris and remind him of our general distaste for weird combinatorics, which I’m sure he took full heed of. Then we proceed to travel for a long time on the metro to get to our ferry. Many of us note the picturesque views of cobbled streets dotted with neat, colourful houses. We also scan the rustic landscape, which is quite deceptive in its similarity to NZ – save for the occasional occurrence of a windmill. Eventually, we trudged onto the ferry taking us to Texel.

For the next few days, we trained with the Dutch team sitting through 2 mock tests and sampling some nice problems from the 2010 shortlist. We also take time to explore the local town, which looks like something from a fairy tale. But other than that, it’s not very interesting. The weather, might I add, is also not very interesting. Like the countryside, it too seemed to be mimicing the Auckland weather. It did not take a liking to us during our interview on the beach by the Dutch media. In having to avoid showing our frozen faces, the Dutch national TV allowed our feet instead to make a cameo appearance.

Novotel is where we were staying in the final build up to the IMO. It’s a very warm accommodation – made all the more cozy by the vehement outside weather. After meeting our guide Marlisa, the NZ contestants settled into their allocated rooms and were given neat packs loaded with goodies. We later meet up with other teams such as the Australian team. Generally there is a consensus that this year’s IMO was very well managed and the catering staff very helpful. Indeed, they had even arranged to have the opening ceremony only a brief stroll from our stay – which I’m sure caused no sleep loss or worry. There is also, however, a slight disappointment shared by some teams about the cuisine. The food given seems to have its lineage in Indian culture as opposed to Dutch – and so many teams have taken a liking to the stack of instant noodles present in the dining hall.

After the opening ceremony, the NZ team proceeded to make many photos- to use the Dutch saying – with other teams. Especially popular (as always) was the DPRK delegation. But soon the weather soured and loitering outside was deemed impractical. We hurriedly retreated back to the hotel – the contest is the next day.

Day One of the IMO this year was notorious for its inclusion of the windmill problem. The windmill problem was arguably one of the hardest problem 2s ever to grace the cover of the IMO. It was also one of the most loathed for many strong teams weren’t able to solve it at all. Many displeased contestants noted the disproportionate difficulty of problem 2 and 3 in that 3 was much easier than 2, and those who did make the right choice to skip 2 ended up scoring dramatically higher than those who valiantly carried on with faith in the jury to sort the problems in the right order of difficulty. After the exam, a French contestant condemned the windmill problem on the IMO ’11 Facebook page – he got a lot of likes. Also this year, the invigilators screened contestants with metal detectors before entrance into the hall. So I’d like to remind next year’s team to get rid of its habit of bring guns to a maths exam – at least before the IMO anyway.

Day Two bore fewer surprises save for the lack of easy to medium geometry. Indeed, this year the jury broke the lengthy decade long tradition of having an easy and a medium geometry problem on the exam. On the whole the NZ team fared very well with 2 silvers, 2 bronzes and 2 HMs – although the same could not be said of me. We again captured our 29th placing from last year. It must be mentioned that this year’s IMO helped to produce the most successful IMO contestant ever – Lisa Sauermann with her final mound of many golds, a silver and a perfect score. Also congratulations must go to Madelon from the Dutch team for gaining the highest score in her team for her silver medal.

The last leg of the IMO consisted of excursions and sightseeing opportunities. We must have our guide Marlisa to thank for her expertise in guiding us in and out of Amsterdam. Particularly notable were a 30k long bike ride through the Dutch countryside (under the auspice of good weather for once) and a fun walk through Amsterdam proper where we got a full taste of the many aromas and sights of the liberal city. After a well-organised closing ceremony, the team was ushered to a ‘beach’ in central Amsterdam where the farewell party took place. It was a delightful affair with ample hot food and drinks. Heaps of NZ souvenirs were handed out and we amassed a large pile of Mongolian currency. The weather again did not share the festive mood – but never mind because it was (mostly) warm.

The next day marked our final day in Amsterdam. We bid goodbye to our sprightly guide Marlisa with the presentation of our mascot – the Kiwi. Then back we came from the other side of the world loaded with memories and other stuff.

To finish, I’d like to thank the following people (or organisations) in no particular order: Chris, Ilya, Stephen, Royal Society of NZ, NZMOC, IMO ’11 ’10 ’08 organisation committee for making IMO so cool, Dr Michael Albert, Dr Arkadii Slinko and past volunteers for their invaluable time and efforts. Thank you.

The afternoon was spent in an excursion to the central city with our team guide Marlisa Hommel, wandering Amsterdam’s many cobbled streets and bridges, and taking a boat ride on its network of canals. The excursion finished in a dinner at the NEMO science centre. The closing ceremony is this afternoon, followed by a party, and then we all say farewell and begin our journeys home tomorrow. It has been a wonderful (and fantastically organised!) IMO.

Full results can be found on the official IMO site.

(*) Yes, I know this isn’t strictly correct, because of the empty set! But it’s still a first, with that one exception.

Our two major co-ordinations today went extremely smoothly – in fact our meeting for problem 2 was over before it was even scheduled to begin! We went in a couple of minutes early, and made our proposal for the six scores; the co-ordinators had exactly the same scores in mind, for the same reasons, and we were out the door before the scheduled meeting time of 2:30. The meeting for problem 1 was not quite as quick, but just as smooth, and we got an unexpected bonus. Both we and the co-ordinators proposed 3 for one script, but it turned out that we had different third points in mind, and so the 3 became a 4. However, we were not so lucky with problems 5 and 6, and missed out on two points we’d hoped to gain. One of these, on problem 5, was extremely disappointing.

The team are currently on a field trip to the Hague; we’ve sent them the results by text, but look forward to congratulating them in person when they get back. Wish us luck for the meeting tomorrow!

The day began smoothly, with our appointment for problem three (the hardest problem of day one) scheduled for 9am. We told the co-ordinators that we didn’t think there were any points to be found in our students’ work, to which they agreed, but invited us to discuss their work anyway. There was really only one script where anything substantial had been written, and we explained why its proof that f(x)<=0 for all x (worth two points in the mark scheme) was incorrect. They agreed that “it is not allowed to make this mistake”, and we shook hands on six zeros.

Next up was problem four, at 2pm. The co-ordinators quickly agreed to three of the sevens we asked for, but as we’d expected wanted to look more closely at the other three scripts. One of these used an unusual construction to prove the required recurrence, and we were working our way through this together when our half hour appointment ran out. We were given a new appointment at 8pm, with the points for two scripts yet to be agreed on.

Problem five was next, at 5. We had what we thought were two 7s, a 6 (credit goes to Ilya for identifying this), a 3 and two 2s. All of this was agreed to readily enough, except for one of the 7s, which was written hurriedly during the last fifteen minutes of the exam, and had to be gone through carefully. After a time out to discuss it amongst themselves…and calling over the problem captain…they agreed that it was very good work, but offered six points. The deduction was for a spurious equation which made them question the student’s thinking in reaching the desired conclusion. It was false, but unnecessary, and if you just covered it up, there would be no dispute! Extremely reluctant to accept a 6 we rescheduled in order to review the script further, and today at 10:30 we hope to convince them he did know what he was doing.

8pm brought both bad news and good. It turned out there were other students with the same error as the one in our first script, and the co-ordinators for the problem had met to discuss how to handle it. To our great disappointment the decision there meant we could get only four point. For the second script? “I have good news”, said a co-ordinator, holding up his laptop and showing us some lines of code. “I have implemented his construction, and it works; what’s more, we think that his proof is correct. So we agree with you that he gets seven points.”

So, with three problems co-ordinated so far we have either 63 or 64 points, with at least five perfect sevens, spread between four students. Wish us luck today!

After a long but uneventful journey we arrvied in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam just over a week ago. We were met by Dutch leader Johan Konter, who helped Stephen buy the team tickets to Texel (pronounced “tessle”), where they would spend four days in joint training with the Dutch team. Johan and I then saw the team+Stephen+Ilya off on the first leg of their journey – getting to Texel involved several trains, buses, and a ferry – before catching a bus ourselves to the secret jury location, near Eindhoven. Despite the many connections the team’s trip to Texel apparently went smoothly, with the only incident as they boarded the train at Schiphol: once they were all safely on board we looked back at the door at the far end of the carriage, to see a lone suitcase sitting on the platform. Luckily we were able to get it on board too, before the train departed.

The opening ceremony took place on Sunday, with a troupe of acrobats keeping things lively during the parade of teams. This year’s parade was done by continent, and the Australian leader and I were tickled to find that collectively we made up “Oceania”. A link to video of the opening ceremony can currently be found on the IMO 2011 site; Australia comes on at 92:30 and NZ at 93:00.

The contest took place over the next two days. This year’s IMO will surely be remembered for two things: the “windmill problem”, a beautiful combinatorics problem by Geoff Smith (UK), which made it onto the paper as question 2; and for being the first time in many years that there were two combinatorics problems instead of two geometry, with the only geometry being question 6 (the hardest). It seems the windmill problem may have been harder than the jury thought, as many countries are only claiming a few full solutions; and the “missing” easy geometry may well have upset the fortunes of many contestants – perhaps including those of some of our own.

Now it all comes down to co-ordination. Of course we have our hopes, but I’d prefer to report facts than speculation, so watch this space! Some photos will also follow.

It will be possible to follow this year’s IMO online: the organisers have set up a facebook page, and will be posting daily news clips on YouTube. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will also be broadcast live, on the facebook page and on the 2011 IMO site. These take place at 16:00-17:30 local time (GMT+2) on 17 July and 23 July – so 2:00-3:30am NZ time on 18 and 24 July. And of course we’ll post updates here as we’re able, to let you know how the NZ team’s getting on. Wish us luck!

Scenes from the weekend follow.

Tom Yan (foreground) and Arun Shanmuganathan tackle the first mock IMO.

Benedict Morrissey working on mock IMO1.

The team discuss the solution to Problem 1 on the mock IMO with deputy leader Ilya Chevyrev. Clockwise from left: Arun Shanmuganathan, Benedict Morrissey, James Allen, Robert Zhang, Ilya Chevyrev, Tom Yan, Malcolm Granville. Absent from photo: Stephen McConnachie (team manager) and Chris Tuffley (team leader).

Malcolm Granville, Benedict Morrissey and James Allen (team LEQ3) discuss a problem during the solving phase of the Math Battle.

Robert Zhang as opponent watches Benedict Morrissey present a solution during the Math Battle.

Malcolm Granville critiques Robert's solution to a problem during the Math Battle. With five of eight problems solved, the game was adjourned for lunch followed by departure to the airport. The score? Team LEQ3 26, team GEQ4 30, with LEQ3 next to challenge.

Those selected for the camp will do 1-2 assignments prior to the camp, and we hope to have them sit Round 1 of the British Mathematical Olympiad in December. At the camp in January we will choose a squad of 10-12 students for further training, and to take part in several international competitions, including the Australian and Asia-Pacific Mathematical Olympiads. The final team of six will be chosen based on the results of these competitions, and perhaps some additional selection tests, if needed.

We look forward to receiving your solutions!

- Chris Tuffley
Leader, 2011 NZIMO team

PS: The 2011 team will be departing soon for the 2011 IMO, in Amsterdam. Watch this space for news!