Vernon Small
{{Short description|New Zealand chess player (born 1954)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox chess player
|image=Vernon Small 2007.jpg|
|name=Vernon Small
|caption=Vernon Small at the "Journalism Matters" EPMU Summit Meeting, Wellington 2007.
|country=New Zealand
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1954|7|18|df=yes}}
|birth_place=England
|title=International Master (1988)
|rating=2313 (April 2005)
|peakrating= 2390 (January 1989)[http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/player/Small,%20Vernon%20A..html Vernon Small] FIDE rating history, [http://www.olimpbase.org www.olimpbase.org]
|worldchampion =
|FideID=4300017
}}
Vernon Albert Small (born 18 July 1954, England) is a New Zealand journalist and chess International Master (IM).[http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=4300017 Vernon Small] FIDE player profile, [http://www.fide.com www.fide.com] He represented New Zealand in eight Chess Olympiads from 1976 to 1992. Previously a journalist for Fairfax Media, Small worked as a press secretary to Cabinet minister David Parker from 2017 to 2023.
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.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} He was awarded a PhD in English Literature from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) in 1985. His doctoral thesis was titled The authorial persona: A truth conditional account.{{cite thesis |last=Small |first=Vernon |year=1984 |type=Doctoral thesis |title=The authorial persona: A truth conditional account |publisher=UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury |hdl=10092/4854 |doi=10.26021/4750 |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/4854}}
Small worked as a business and political journalist for The New Zealand Herald and The Dominion Post as deputy political editor and, also at the Post, national affairs editor. For more than two decades he was based in the press gallery at Parliament and was made a life member.{{cite |title=Press Gallery Membership - New Zealand Parliament |page= |url=https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/information-for-the-press/press-gallery/ |access-date=8 January 2025}} During the period of the Sixth Labour Government, from 2017 to 2023, he worked as a senior press secretary to Cabinet minister David Parker.{{Cite web|date=2018-04-04|title=Beehive 'newsroom' needs to move the story on|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/102843380/beehive-newsroom-needs-to-move-the-story-on|access-date=2020-10-26|website=Stuff |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Bryce |date=26 February 2024 |title=Political Roundup: Labour's worst week highlights its existential crisis |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/labours-worst-week-highlights-its-existential-crisis-bryce-edwards-political-roundup/X5ZFOQ53UJAZXPWZVKJ4ETBTVY/ |access-date=8 January 2025 |website=The New Zealand Herald }}
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.[http://www.olimpbase.org/players/px3rd3xd.html Vernon Small] Chess Olympiad Statistics, [http://www.olimpbase.org www.olimpbase.org] His best result was his Olympiad debut at the 22nd Chess Olympiad, Haifa 1976, when he scored 7/9, and finished equal third with Grandmaster Larry Evans for the bronze medal on board 3.[http://www.olimpbase.org/1976/1976in.html#medals 22nd Chess Olympiad, Haifa 1976] Individual Medals, [http://www.olimpbase.org www.olimpbase.org]
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.[http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/chess/a-history-of-new-zealand-chess-championships/ The New Zealand Championships: A Brief History] by Peter Stuart[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=27541 Vernon Small] player profile, [http://www.chessgames.com www.chessgames.com]
He has defeated a number of strong players, including Jonathan Mestel, Eugenio Torre and Oscar Panno.[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1329054 Mestel-Small Haifa Olympiad 1976],[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272221 Small-Torre, Wellington 1978], [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1270335 Small-Panno, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988], chessgames.com
Notable games
- [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1270335 Vernon Small vs Oscar Panno, Olympiad 1988, French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, (C03), 1-0]
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{twitter|VernonSmall}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Vernon}}
Category:Chess International Masters
Category:New Zealand chess players
Category:Chess Olympiad competitors
Category:New Zealand journalists