What's more valuable rook or bishop?

Rooks can move around the entire board and can kingside ,but the bishop you can maneuver more easily.

So what is better?

Bishops are better in open games, knights are better in closed.

Their value is considered relatively equal in most cases (they are both worth 3 points, crudely, if pawns are worth 1, bishops/knights 3, rooks 5 and queens 9)

The bishop pair is respectable, and probably better than a knight pair, but really it's about open vs closed games.

Perhaps bishops are slightly better, since if a game is closed it can be opened easier than an open game can be closed.

thanks ;)

#3 is totally right. In addition, in most end games the bishop is slightly more valuable than a knight; conversely, the knight is more valuable early in the game when the bishop is unable to move freely.

Wait! Did you misspell 'knight' or you *actually* meant 'rook'?

I take it you consider knights and bishops perfectly equal? I won't argue with you, they are certainly relatively equal.

We were always taught that knights and bishops were roughly equal at the start but that knights were more useful early on and bishops increased in value as the game opened up.

Yes...this seems to be true. I would argue that it's because the game tends to open up as it progresses.