Chess players didn’t fare as well financially as Chaplin. In 1916, Siegbert Tarrasch defeated Jacques Mieses by a score of 9-4 in a match played in in Berlin. With Germany in the middle of World War I things were tough and for his victory Tarrach won a half pound of butter.
In Ohio, in 1916, the biggest news of the year was probably what turned out to be the last of the water works tunnel disasters that took place in Cleveland; the first one occurred in 1898 and all told, in these disasters 58 men were killed.
These tunnels were water intakes under Lake Erie that extended beyond the polluted shoreline. The disasters included gas explosions, a fire and on July 24, 1916, when workmen digging in a 10 foot wide tunnel, they hit a pocket of natural gas. A spark triggered an explosion, killing 11 men and later 10 would-be rescuers who were overcome by gas died when they entered the pressurized tunnel. Twelve man were rescued.
Almost nothing is known of the Ohio Chess Championship prior to 1948. What is known is that prior to 1945 the state championship was determined by match play,
Elliott Edmund Stearns, Sr. (October 7, 1891 – June 23, 1969, 77 years old) was the Ohio Champion in 1916 and 1917. Stearns was the Ohio Champion once again in 1948, scoring 5.5 in a 6-round Swiss event in Columbus that had 32 players. He claimed the longest span of years between titles, a record that he held until it was broken by the acerbic James R. Schroeder (1927-2017) who won the title in 1950 and 35 years later in 1985.
Stearns, a corporate attorney from the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, played Capablanca three times in exhibitions in the early 1920s; he lost two of the games, but in 1922, he managed to score a win.
Today's game is one that Stearns played in a 1916 match for the State Championship. He was successful in his defense of his title in the match which was concluded on November 22, 1916 when he won the eighth and last game (this one) against Arthur D. Harmon, also of Cleveland.
The match ended up in a 4-4 tie, so Stearns retained the title, but only by the skin of his teeth because after 6 games Harmon was leading 4-2.
A game that I liked (Fritz 17)
Elliott E Stearns–Arthur D Harmon1–0A83Ohio State Champ Match, Cleveland1916Stockfish 16
A83: Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit 1.d4 f5 The Dutch has never bee
popular, but Alekhine and Botvinnik frequently play it...a good recommendation!
2.e4 The rare Staunton Gambit. Once upon a time it was a feared weapon,
but it's rarely played even in 1916, because theory has shown how to
neutralize it. fxe4 There is really no good reason to not take the P. 3.c3 f6 4.g5 c6 A note in the January 1917 American Chess Bulletin says this is
was played "to prevent Nd5 at all costs". The main (and probably better)
alternative is 4...g6 5.f3 exf3 There is no good way to avoid this capture
and white has enough compensation for his P. 6.xf3 d6 7.d3 7.c4 g4 8.0-0 bd7 9.d2 b6 Black is doing well. Garcia Guerrero,I
(2300)-Shimanov,A (2625) Katowice POL 2014 7...g4 8.0-0 Probably best. 8.h3 This, too, is playable. h5 9.g4 f7 10.e2 bd7 11.f4 White is a
little better. Gilea,L (2272)-Cirjan,D (2000) Baile Olanesti ROU 2010 8.d2 bd7 9.0-0-0 a5 10.de1 0-0-0 11.f4 Black stands well. Huang Qian (2416)
-Mendoza,B (2132) Manila 2007 8...b6 9.h1 bd7 Om this occasion the
b-Pawn is immune. 9...xb2 loses to 10.e1 a6 10...b6 11.e4 xf3 12.xd6+ d8 13.f7+ 11.b1 a3 12.h3 xf3 13.xf3 0-0-0 14.b5 a4 14...cxb5 15.f5+ 15.f5+ b8 16.a3 c4 17.a5 c8 18.xa7 and wins. 10.d2 0-0-0 11.e3 c7 While this move gets the Q off the Bs line of fire,
it's too slow and now white is able to whip up a strong attack. 11...xf3 12.gxf3 12.d5 is not as dangerous as it looks. After a5 13.xf3 xd5 14.xd5 xd2 15.xd2 cxd5 it's black who can claim the advantage. 12...d5
Eliminating all danger from the push d5 13.ab1 c7 offers a solid defense. 12.g5 The attack begins. e8 13.h3 h5 14.e6 a5 15.a3 The threat
is to win black's Q. b5 15...f7 wasn't much better. 16.f5 d5 17.b4 b6 And noww...drum roll... 18.xd5 and the black Q is trapped. 15...g8
A pass to demonstrate the threat to black's Q. 16.b4 b6 17.d5 16.b4 b6 17.d5 c5 18.bxc5 xc5 19.xb5 fe4 20.xe4 xe4 21.d3 21.b4 Not that
it matters, but this is a forced mate...in 8 moves. c5 22.xc5 dxc5 23.a4 d8 24.ab1 d6 25.d7+ b8 26.c6 xc6 27.xc6 c4 28.c7+ a8 29.c8+ b8 30.xb8# 21...g3+ There is no way blakl can avoid getting mated. 22.g1 g6 23.c4+ b7 24.xb6 c8 25.a6+ xb6 26.b5# A very nice
concluding attack by Stearns. Time used: Stearns: 1 hour, 14 minutesd. Harmon:
1hour, 3 minutes. 1–0
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