While it was discussed in the comments, there isn't an answer containing it yet, so it can be easy to miss. DATE_FORMAT works really well and is flexible to handle many different patterns.
DATE_FORMAT(date,'%Y%m')
To put it in a query:
SELECT DATE_FORMAT(test_date,'%Y%m') AS date FROM test_table;
You may want to check out the mySQL docs in regard to the date functions. http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html
There is a YEAR() function just as there is a MONTH() function. If you're doing a comparison though is there a reason to chop up the date? Are you truly interested in ignoring day based differences and if so is this how you want to do it?
SELECT * FROM Table_name Where Month(date)='10' && YEAR(date)='2016';
There should also be a YEAR().
As for comparing, you could compare dates that are the first days of those years and months, or you could convert the year/month pair into a number suitable for comparison (i.e. bigger = later). (Exercise left to the reader. For hints, read about the ISO date format.)
Or you could use multiple comparisons (i.e. years first, then months).
If you are comparing between dates, extract the full date for comparison. If you are comparing the years and months only, use
SELECT YEAR(date) AS 'year', MONTH(date) AS 'month'
FROM Table Where Condition = 'Condition';
in Mysql Doku: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html#function_extract
SELECT EXTRACT( YEAR_MONTH FROM `date` )
FROM `Table` WHERE Condition = 'Condition';
Source: Stackoverflow.com