Mike Zacate to Receive USCF Award

The USCF executive board has selected Illinois native Mike Zacate to receive the USCF Outstanding Career Achievement award. Zacate has been active at all levels of Illinois chess since 1967. Thanks to his efforts, chess was added as an official sport in the Illinois State High School Association in 1974, and Zacate served as Chair of the IHSA Advisory Committee on Chess until 2010. He recently worked to help the Illinois Elementary School Association establish its first elementary chess championship.

Zacate has also been active in the Illinois Chess Association, serving as Illinois Chess Bulletin editor in the early 70s, and as ICA President. He was one of the first people to become a USCF National Tournament Director. He has served as a USCF delegate on several occasions and worked on the USCF Rules Committee on revisions to the USCF rulebook.

The award will be presented at the US Open Awards Banquet in Orlando, Florida.