Mladen Palac is a Croatian chess Grandmaster, born on February 18, 1961, in Bosanski Brod, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Palac became an International Master in 1987 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1993. He is regarded as one of the leading Croatian players of his generation.
Palac was the winner of the Croatian Chess Championship in 1995, 2005, and 2009. He has represented Croatia in twelve Chess Olympiads between 1990 and 2014. Bosnia and Herzegovina have also been represented by him in the 35th Chess Olympiad in 2002.
He garnered third place in the European Individual Chess Championship in 2001 and achieved the same standing in the next year's event. He also competed and performed impressively in the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2001 and 2004, as well as the 2002 Dubai Open Chess Championship.