In 1916, Siegbert Tarrasch and Jacques Mieses played a match in Berlin which Tarrasch won by a score of 9-4. But, more importantly, he also won the prize of a half pound of butter.
On July 5, 1916, Friedrich Kohnlein (1879-1916), a French player and problem composer was killed in the Battle of Somme in France. The battle took place between July 1st and November 18th, 1916, and was fought by the British and the French against the Germans. An Allied victory, despite its horrific costs, inflicted serious damage on German positions in France, spurring the Germans to strategically retreat.
The Unites States didn't declare war on Germany until April of 1917, and so chess continued pretty much as usual until that time.
In January-February 1916, Capablanca won the Rice Memorial, held in New York. It was held in honor of chess patron Professor Isaac Rice, who had died in November, 1915.
In April, Charles Jaffe sought $700 (almost $3.000 today) in a lawsuit for work he allegedly did in analyzing games for a book titled Twenty Years of the Rice Gambit. Jaffe lost. You can read all about it in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle HERE.
Speaking of lawsuits, in December, 1916, Isidor Gunsberg won a lawsuit against the Associated Newspapers and the chess column Chess News Agency for libel. Chess columnist A. W. Foster wrote that Gunsberg had published a lot of bad analysis and unsound problems with bad solutions. Gunsberg won 250 British pounds in damages; that's nearly $16,500 today.
On March 21, 1916, Frank Marshall set a world record when he played 105 boards in a simultaneous exhibition held in Washington, D.C. It took him 7 hours and he scored +82 -8 =5.
Not long after Marshall's feat, in June, Borislav Kostic played 20 blindfold games simultaneously in New York, winning 19 and drawing 1. It took him 6 hours and 11 minutes.
On December 26, 1916, Marshall broke his own record by playing 129 boards simultaneously in Philadelphia. Je scored +97 -9 =23 in 8 hours.
The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, but was significantly affected by it. The Dutch Army remained fully mobilized to counter any possible threat, and its economy felt the strain of both sides' attempt to control the world's sea lanes and supplies.
The following interesting game was played by two obscure players in an obscure winter tournament held at the Haarlem Chess Club in 1916.
Dr. W. Fick–Dr. Rustige1–0C56Winter Tmt, Haarlem Chess Club1916Stockfish 15.1
Two Knights Defense. 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 3.c4 f6 4.0-0 c5 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.e1+ e6 9.g5 d5 10.c3 f5 11.xe6 fxe6 is the Two Knights Defense and it is the same position as in the
game after 11...fxe6 3...exd4 This old opening was popular in the 1800s,
but by 1900 it had lost favor because it was thought to release he tension in
the center too early and allow black easy equality. In more recent times
Kasparov and Timman made it popular again as an alternative to the Ruy Lopez. 4.c4 Instead of 4.Nxd4, white can play this, the Scotch Gambit, or 4.c3 the
Goring Gambit. After the text move black can transpose into the Two Knights
Defense with 4...Nf6, or he can continue the Scotch with 4...Bc5 5.c3 and then
5...Nf6 will transposing into a safe variation of the Giuoco Piano. f6 5.0-0 c5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.e1+ e6 9.g5 d5 10.c3 f5 11.xe6 11.ce4 0-0-0 12.xe6 fxe6 13.g4 e5 14.fxg7 hg8 15.h6 is the long known main
book line. 11...fxe6 12.e4 12.fxg7 g8 13.e4 0-0-0 14.g5 e7 15.h6 Black is much better. Niedermaier,B (1982)-Belostozkaja,J (2078) Braunfels
2009 12...b6 Castling 12...O-O-O would have transposed into
Marshall-Tarrasch, Hamburg 1910 and Marshall-Leonhardt, Hamburh 1911. The best
move though is simply 12...gxf6 13.fxg7 White is slightly better. g8 14.h6 This is the same maneuver Marshall played in both games except that he
first played g2-g4. It was also seen in the note to move 11. 0-0-0 Hoping
for ...Qg6. 15.g4 g6 16.g5 d5 This should have allowed white to get the
initiative. 16...a5 keeps the pressure on. 17.e2 d3 18.cxd3 cxd3 19.e3 b6 20.e1 d2 21.xd2 xg7 22.xg7 xg5+ 23.h1 xd2 24.b3 xg7
and black will most likely win. 17.h4 17.g4 Stays on course. e5 18.h3 and white is in good shape. 17...f5 While this inhibits Nf6 (18.Nf6
Rxf6) it is not the most precise. 17...d3 18.g4 f5 Now is the time for
this. 19.h1 e5 20.h3 dxc2 with the better game. 18.g3 d5 This was black's last chance. After this time wasting move he
is lost! 18...d3 ugnoring the threat to his R allows him to stay in the
game becuase after 19.xf5 xf5 20.cxd3 xf2+ 21.h1 xh4+ 22.g2 f2
and white is in serious trouble. 23.f3 xe1 24.xe1 xe1 25.f8+ xf8 26.gxf8+ d8 27.dxc4 e4+ with a won ending. 19.f3 e5 20.f8+ e8
An extraordinary position! 20...d8 also fails to 21.f6 xf6 22.gxf6 f7 23.f4 and white has a decisive advantage. 21.h5 g4 21...xf8 22.gxf8 xf8 23.xf8 f3+ 24.g2 xe1+ 25.xe1 d3 26.cxd3 cxd3 27.g7 d2 28.d1 a5 29.c3 White is winning. 22.xe6 d8 22...xf8 23.gxf8+ xf8 24.xf8 Black is a R down. 23.f6 xf6 24.xd8+ xd8 25.gxf6 f5 26.ae1 Black resigmed. 26.ae1 d3 27.e8+ xe8 28.xe8+ xe8 29.g8+ d7 30.f7+ d6 31.cxd3 cxd3 31...xf2 32.e7+ c6 33.e4+ d7 34.d5+ e8 35.e6+ d8 36.e7+ c8 37.e8# 32.f8+ e6 33.e7+ d5 34.d7+ e5 35.g7 xf2 36.f7+ f6+ 37.g2 wins 1–0
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