Answers.Body: <p>Sure.</p>
  <p>A book's content stands on its own.  Great players have written lousy books, not so great players have written decent books.  Given the availability of engines and other online resources, I don't know that it is necessary to be an exceptionally strong player to write a good book on an opening line.  Of course, if you're out to write a piece of crap, being a weak player is an awfully good start.</p>
  <p>The concern I would have is not so much the author's rating, it's his complete lack of a biography on his Amazon pages.  Generally speaking, the rule of &quot;If I don't have anything good to say about myself, then say nothing at all&quot; applies.</p>
  <p>The reviews of the book all praise the writing style, which might be reason enough to take a look.  There seems to be a consensus that this is a system which is effective up through 2000 or so, after that, not so much.</p>
  <p>For this book, the price tag seems a little steep.  It might be worthwhile to check out abebooks.com or powells.com to find a used copy.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-12-16T13:21:45.437Z
Answers.Text: I strongly agree with this answer because it resonates with my own ability. I am relatively low rated but I'm an excellent teacher, and have coached players who have gone on to greatly exceed my own strength over the board
Answers.UserDisplayName: Darren H
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-12-15T23:21:46.147Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2022-12-15T23:21:46.147Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jeremy Crowhurst
Body: <p>I was interested in starting to read David Rudel's book <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1888710780" rel="noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zuke 'Em-The Colle Zukertort Revolutionized</a> but I found that the <a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12625282" rel="noreferrer">author's rating</a> is 1319. Should I avoid reading the book since his rating is among the lower end of most chess authors?</p>
  <p>In general, should we let the author's rating be one determining factor of the book's value? Are there examples of high-valued chess books written by low-rated players? Or low-valued books written by high-rated players (or even world champions)?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-12-15T14:16:10.357Z
Comments.Text: It looks like yet another mediocre cash-grab opening book. It's probably "safe" but nothing you can't find with a couple of youtube videos and an opening explorer for free.
Comments.UserDisplayName: David
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-12-15T19:00:31.683Z
Comments.Text: That US Chess rating is based on 10 games played in 1998. I have no idea why these are the only games that show up for him - maybe that's the only time he ever played in the US, or maybe he has played under a different name. Perhaps he was only 10 years old in 1998, who knows, or he'd only picked up chess 6 months earlier. In any case, perhaps the results of 10 games in 1998 don't give a reliable guide to his strength now.
Comments.UserDisplayName: James Martin
Tags: <rating><books><colle-zukertort>
Title: Is it safe to read a chess book whose author's rating is 1319?
ThreadText: # Is it safe to read a chess book whose author's rating is 1319?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-15)
  
  I was interested in starting to read username_1 Rudel's book [Zuke 'Em-The Colle Zukertort Revolutionized](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1888710780) but I found that the [author's rating](https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12625282) is 1319. Should I avoid reading the book since his rating is among the lower end of most chess authors?
  
  In general, should we let the author's rating be one determining factor of the book's value? Are there examples of high-valued chess books written by low-rated players? Or low-valued books written by high-rated players (or even world champions)?
  
  **Tags:** rating, books, colle-zukertort
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: It looks like yet another mediocre cash-grab opening book. It's probably "safe" but nothing you can't find with a couple of youtube videos and an opening explorer for free.  
  > **username_2**: That US Chess rating is based on 10 games played in 1998. I have no idea why these are the only games that show up for him - maybe that's the only time he ever played in the US, or maybe he has played under a different name. Perhaps he was only 10 years old in 1998, who knows, or he'd only picked up chess 6 months earlier. In any case, perhaps the results of 10 games in 1998 don't give a reliable guide to his strength now.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2022-12-15. Score: 7 | Accepted answer
  
  Sure.
  
  A book's content stands on its own. Great players have written lousy books, not so great players have written decent books. Given the availability of engines and other online resources, I don't know that it is necessary to be an exceptionally strong player to write a good book on an opening line. Of course, if you're out to write a piece of crap, being a weak player is an awfully good start.
  
  The concern I would have is not so much the author's rating, it's his complete lack of a biography on his Amazon pages. Generally speaking, the rule of "If I don't have anything good to say about myself, then say nothing at all" applies.
  
  The reviews of the book all praise the writing style, which might be reason enough to take a look. There seems to be a consensus that this is a system which is effective up through 2000 or so, after that, not so much.
  
  For this book, the price tag seems a little steep. It might be worthwhile to check out abebooks.com or powells.com to find a used copy.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_4**: I strongly agree with this answer because it resonates with my own ability. I am relatively low rated but I'm an excellent teacher, and have coached players who have gone on to greatly exceed my own strength over the board  
  
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