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GRiddles Series B: Puzzle 4

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Let ℓ be a non-negative integer. Ana and Bob play a game. To start, Bob publicly chooses a sequence (an)n=1∞    containing every positive integer exactly once, and sets his starting passcode to 0. On each turn n = 1, 2, 3, . . . , the following happens in order:

  1. Bob updates his passcode by adding an to it or subtracting an from it. The new passcode must be a positive integer not used as a passcode before. If no valid move is possible, Ana wins.
  2. If n > 202620262026, Ana gets up to ℓ guesses for Bob’s passcode this turn. She cannot repeat a guess across the entire game. If a guess is correct, she wins.

If the game goes on forever, Bob wins if every positive integer eventually appears as his passcode. Otherwise, Ana wins. Find the smallest value of ℓ for which Ana has a winning strategy.

Answer format: State the smallest value of ℓ for which Ana has a winning strategy, and prove it.

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