$\underline{\text { Toplugo A.K. }}$.

The white rook is on the b2 square of an $8 \times 8$ chessboard, and the black rook is on the c4 square. Players take turns moving their rooks, with the whites starting. It is forbidden to place one's rook under attack by the other rook, or on a square that has already been visited by any rook. The player who cannot make a move loses. Which player can ensure their victory, regardless of how the other plays? (On a move, a rook can slide horizontally or vertically by any number of squares, and it is considered to have visited only the starting and ending squares of this move.)
Let's divide the verticals into pairs, placing verticals b and c in one pair. We will also divide the horizontals into pairs, placing the 2nd and 4th in one pair. Then the cells will also be divided into pairs: a paired cell lies at the intersection of a paired horizontal and a paired vertical. Rooks on paired cells do not attack each other. The second player's strategy: respond to any move of the first player by moving to the paired cell. This is possible: if the first player moved a rook from one cell to another, then these cells lie in the same row. But then the cells paired with them lie in a paired row, and a rook move between them is also possible. Thus, after each move of the second player, all unvisited cells will consist of the specified pairs, and the second player will always land on an unvisited cell. Therefore, it is the first player who will eventually be unable to make a move and lose.

## Answer

The second player