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Andy, thank you for considering this issue, but why wouldn't that be exactly equivalent to the situation as is, except with colors reversed? Am I missing something here? Maybe it would help overcome the irrational fear people have because of the stigma they attach to the black pieces? After all, if orange is the new pink, why can't black be the new white?

Rotation Chess might be another interesting approach to dealing with this problem. In Rotation Chess, white has first move advantage but because Black can leave a piece en prise every tenth move, it might even things out. Not sure how much longevity an average Rotation Chess game might have!

Another creative approach, one that Gary Gifford tried out with me, is Betza's Black Ghost. Gary thinks that variant favors Black, but maybe if the Black Ghost (capturable but non-capturing) moved like a pawn instead of teletransported and started out on one of White's central squares (c4, d4, e4 or f4) it might have more life to it (if Gary's right that it does favor black, as I suspect he may be.)