Dame are neutral points in yose, the endgame. Under Japanese or Korean rules, placing a stone on such a point won't gain either side any points. In other rule sets, such as Chinese, however, every stone placed on the board is worth a point. The question of whether dame affects the score then becomes a question of whether the number of dame points is even or odd. In the latter case, being the first to start playing dame is essentially worth one point.
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