Is chess as hard as backgammon?

Backgammon is basically a dice game. There is some skill but the roll of the dice dictates play

chess is much harder, but love backgammon as well

The role of luck in backgammon is so large that a brand new player can easily beat a world champion in any game of backgammon.

That has never happened in chess.

The pieces can be made of similar material, so yes, likely.

Chess is harder, if you looking for a game even harder than chess try Go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)

Meh, only 1 type of piece, they're static after they're placed, and sure the board is big, but like chess, most moves are so bad that experienced players don't even consider them for a moment.

Bigger board doesn't equal harder, unless you try to brute force it like a dumb computer and consider all the moves humans automatically ignore.

here is the quote from WiKi I looked at:

"Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is very complex, even more so than chess, and possesses more possibilities than the total number of atoms in the visible universe. Compared to chess, Go has both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, many more alternatives to consider per move.^[7]"

Yep. It's using "complexity" in terms of there being a lot of possibilities because of the board size.

But this isn't how humans play go. Like chess, there are only a few reasonable moves to consider most times, and many are played (like chess) not from calculation, but from pattern recognition.

By the way, linking a wiki article, really? As if I'd never heard of go

Go looks kind of cool. I remember seeing it played for the first time in that movie A Beautiful Mind. I definitely don't have another several years to dedicate to a new game though.  This one keeps me busy enough. 

Back to backgammon.  Notmtwain (post #4) is correct.  It is possible for a beginner to defeat a champion in a single game.  However,  let them play ten games and the champ will prevail almost every time.  Let them play one hundred games and the odds for the champ increase significantly.  This is the beauty of backgammon and what makes it a great game for gambling (as long as the doubling cube is included).  Sharkey101 (post#2) is also correct in that there is a tremendous amount of luck in the game.  However there is no doubt that in the long run skill will over come luck in this wonderful and intriguing game.  As to which is actually harder I am not entirely certain.  But although backgammon (despite being deceptively simple) is extremely difficult in both tactics and strategy, it is my opinion that chess is considerably more difficult.

 Backgammon is clearly more complicated...look at the thousands and thousands of books written about to handle the beginning position of a backgammon game...

Oh wait, that's Chess.  Backgammon's best of all possible strategies is:  roll a lot of doubles.

It's a little like monopoly in the sense that it is half chance and half strategy. Knowing more strategy doesn't guarantee a win it just increases you chances of winning.

To learn the moves and rules takes a little less time than chess, I think.  Either way the time commitment to learn each game is about the same.  To get to a basic advanced level with some casual coaching I think also takes a similar amount of time.  Perhaps about one to two hundred games for each.  However, to reach a truly top competitive level in chess I believe takes a much greater time commitment than backgammon.

2Q1C:  The thing about backgammon which is both good and bad is that unless the doubling cube and thus gambling are included the games tend to be a lot less interesting.  This is not directly because there is no money involved.  For some reason which I don't understand without the doubling cube and consequently money being involved the games themselves tend to involve a lot less tactics and strategy.  I know it's difficult to fathom but my experience is that it really is true.

Because backgammon is a dice game, anybody has a chance to win against anyone else.

That's certainly not true in chess.

In terms of becoming excellent in either one, a lot of theory and principles are required for both, but there's a lot more complexity in chess.

Backgammon is basically centered around trying to block your opponent's chips (aka stones, checkers, etc.) from moving around the board while getting yours into your home board so you can remove them.  The relative simplicity compared to chess meant that it took programmers a lot less time to create computer programs that can beat the best humans.

I don't think that has ever happened.

That is right but that is also the reason that it is played with a double cube when played seriously.  The cube add strategy and tactics to the game so it become more like chess and you win if you are strong in e.g pip count and roll statistics. But it is hard to compare these two games but they are both great.

The role of Go for the Chess-Community was longtime overestimated.