I was wondering to what extent the inferiority of the B's strength
relative to the R's is explained by the fact that the B can only reach
half the board.

Does this account for all or almost all of the inferiority, or less than
almost all? Or maybe if this factor could be 'counter-balanced' exactly,
the B would become theoretically stronger than the R?

Which led to the following question. If a B were allowed to move one
square orthogonally as well as an unlimited number of squares
diagonally, how would its strength compare with that of a R?

I'll test this, but wondered what other people thought about it :-)

A B given these extra powers has been called a Crowned Bishop in variant
chess, and is called a promoted bishop in shogi.

Neil

--
Neil Fernandez