Country New Zealand Name Vernon Small | ||
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Born July 18, 1954 (age 69)
England ( 1954-07-18 ) Title International Master (1988) Profiles | ||
Dr Vernon Albert Small (born 18 July 1954, England) is a New Zealand chess International Master (IM). He represented New Zealand in eight Chess Olympiads from 1976 to 1992. By profession he is a journalist, reporting on New Zealand political affairs for Fairfax Media.
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Biography
Small moved to New Zealand at the age of 9 in 1964 from England. Small was educated at Shirley Boys High School in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was awarded a PhD in English Literature from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) in 1985. He has previously worked as National Affairs Editor for Fairfax Media New Zealand, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery; for which he has received numerous awards. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Chess career
He represented New Zealand in eight Chess Olympiads from 1976 to 1992, playing on board 1 in 1982, 1984 and 1988. His best result was his Olympiad debut at the 22nd Chess Olympiad, Haifa 1976, when he scored 7/9, and finished equal third with GM Larry Evans for the bronze medal on board 3.
Small won or jointly won the New Zealand Chess Championship on four occasions; 1979/80 (shared with Ortvin Sarapu and Ewen Green), 1980/81 (shared with Ortvin Sarapu and Roger Nokes), 1981/82, and 1984/85.
He has defeated a number of strong players, including Jonathan Mestel, Eugenio Torre and Oscar Panno.