Zacate to receive Broughton Award at Annual Meeting

The ICA has selected Michael Zacate to receive the prestigious Natalie W. Broughton Lifetime Achievement in Chess Award at the ICA Annual Banquet.

The Annual Meeting will be held November 23, 2013 at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville; 3003 Corporate West Drive; Lisle, Illinois. The annual business meeting will begin at 4:00 PM and is open to all ICA members. The Annual Banquet will follow immediately at 6:00 PM.

Tickets on sale now at http://shop.il-chess.org/.

Mike is a well-known figure in Illinois chess. He has served the ICA as editor of the Illinois Chess Bulletin in the 1970s, as ICA President and Director, and as an Illinois delegate to the USCF annual meeting for several years.

Mike is best known as the Father of Illinois High School Chess, having started the very successful High School Team Chess Championship in 1968, which was picked up by IHSA as the official high school chess championship in 1974. In 2013, this tournament saw 135 high school teams competing for team and individual titles. Mike served as Chair of the IHSA Advisory Committee on Chess until 2010. He has also worked to help the Illinois Elementary School Association hold its first elementary chess championship in 2011.

Mike was the recipient of the USCF’s Outstanding Career Achievement Award in 2011.

The Natalie W. Broughton Lifetime Achievement in Chess Award was established in 1995 by its namesake, Natalie W. Broughton.