Quote of the day: Backgammon vs chess

This quote comes from a Dr. Dobb's interview with computer science professor Christos Papadimitriou.

Frankly, I think backgammon is a much more interesting game [than chess], much harder to learn... In chess, when you play like an idiot, you always lose, so you learn. In backgammon, you can play 10 games, not play well, and win. So you think you are great but you have made a great number of mistakes. Tragically, life is closer to backgammon, because you can play a perfect game and lose!