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.
[Event "Winter Tmt, Haarlem Chess Club"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1916.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dr. W. Fick"]
[Black "Dr. Rustige"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C56"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1916.??.??"]
{Two Knights Defense.} 1. e4 e5 {[%mdl 32]} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 (3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O
Bc5 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11.
Nxe6 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. Bc4 {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.} Nf6 5. O-O
Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. Nxe6 (11. Nce4
O-O-O 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. g4 Qe5 14. fxg7 Rhg8 15. Bh6 {is the long known main
book line.}) 11... fxe6 12. Ne4 (12. fxg7 Rg8 13. Ne4 O-O-O 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Bh6
{Black is much better. Niedermaier,B (1982)-Belostozkaja,J (2078) Braunfels
2009}) 12... Bb6 {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.} Rg8 14.
Bh6 {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.} O-O-O {Hoping
for ...Qg6.} 15. g4 Qg6 16. g5 Rd5 {This should have allowed white to get the
initiative.} (16... Ba5 {keeps the pressure on.} 17. Re2 d3 18. cxd3 cxd3 19.
Re3 Bb6 20. Re1 d2 21. Nxd2 Rxg7 22. Bxg7 Qxg5+ 23. Kh1 Rxd2 24. Qb3 Qxg7 {
and black will most likely win.}) 17. h4 (17. Qg4 {Stays on course.} Ne5 18.
Qh3 {and white is in good shape.}) 17... Rf5 {While this inhibits Nf6 (18.Nf6
Rxf6) it is not the most precise.} (17... d3 18. Qg4 Rf5 {Now is the time for
this.} 19. Kh1 Ne5 20. Qh3 dxc2 {with the better game.}) 18. Ng3 {[%mdl 32]}
Rd5 {[%mdl 8192] 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. Nxf5 Qxf5 20. cxd3 Qxf2+ 21. Kh1 Qxh4+ 22. Kg2 Bf2 {
and white is in serious trouble.} 23. Qf3 Bxe1 24. Rxe1 Qxe1 25. Qf8+ Rxf8 26.
gxf8=Q+ Nd8 27. dxc4 Qe4+ {with a won ending.}) 19. Qf3 Ne5 20. Qf8+ Qe8 {
An extraordinary position!} (20... Rd8 {also fails to} 21. Qf6 Qxf6 22. gxf6
Nf7 23. Bf4 {and white has a decisive advantage.}) 21. Nh5 Ng4 (21... Rxf8 22.
gxf8=Q Qxf8 23. Bxf8 Nf3+ 24. Kg2 Nxe1+ 25. Rxe1 d3 26. cxd3 cxd3 27. Bg7 d2
28. Rd1 Ba5 29. Bc3 {White is winning.}) 22. Rxe6 Qd8 (22... Qxf8 23. gxf8=Q+
Rxf8 24. Bxf8 {Black is a R down.}) 23. Nf6 Nxf6 24. Qxd8+ Kxd8 25. gxf6 Rf5
26. Rae1 {Black resigmed.} (26. Rae1 d3 27. Re8+ Rxe8 28. Rxe8+ Kxe8 29. g8=Q+
Kd7 30. Qf7+ Kd6 31. cxd3 cxd3 (31... Rxf2 32. Qe7+ Kc6 33. Qe4+ Kd7 34. Qd5+
Ke8 35. Qe6+ Kd8 36. Qe7+ Kc8 37. Qe8#) 32. Qf8+ Ke6 33. Qe7+ Kd5 34. Qd7+ Ke5
35. Bg7 Rxf2 36. f7+ Rf6+ 37. Kg2 {wins}) 1-0
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