Middle-earth Mysteries

[Balin999]

Another thought: Was the reason that Gandalf the White easily bested Saruman of Many Colors due to Saruman's Ring? Do rings, in their making, require a bit of the maker, subtracting from the maker's original power (i.e. Sauron)? Are rings both givers and takers, and one hopes to be lucky enough to stay on the plus side?

As far as I can remember, Gandalf was sent back to more or less replace Saruman, since the original white wizard had failed. Gandalf himself says that in a way he IS Saruman.
Although I think that you're right with your theory of losing some of yourself to the ring you create. BUT, if you're wearing the ring, you can use its power, so that doesn't necessarily make you weaker.