Removing Dame Filling from Area Scoring

[oren]

Komis usually come from statistics of professional games.

Do you have statistics from amateur games that are more accurate for amateurs?

[Bill Spight]

The title of this thread is a bit strange. Filling a Japanese dame gains one point in area scoring, so if you remove dame filling, and otherwise leave things the same, you get territory scoring. That means that this is a solution in search of a problem. We already have territory scoring, in Japan and Korea. There are other territory rule sets, as well.

[Bill Spight]

There is no formal definition of dame

Following my URL mentioned above, you find some formal definition of dame. The question is if you want to use that one or whether you are in need of a different appraoch.

Both Jasiek's rules and Japanese rules define "dame" for open points after play has ended. IIUC, the Korean rules define a phase of the game for filling dame (kongbae). The Korean term includes points that require reinforcement when played. So we have different notions of "dame", which is normal for informal words.

It is easy enough, I think, to give a formal definition of dame, based upon perfect play. (There is no formal problem with perfect play, although there may be a practical problem in determining perfect play. )

Here is a definition of dame that I think pretty well captures the Korean notion. First, let's define a dame play. A dame play is one that will make no difference to the eventual territory and captured stones, nor will the stone played be captured or killed, given perfect play, starting with the dame play. A dame point is the point upon which a dame play is made, or will be made, with perfect play.