Tag: VISAKHAPATNAM

Toshali stuns top seed Zhu Jiner at World Junior Chess Championship.

Source – sportstar.thehindu.com

In chess, the four-digit rating of a player is reflective of his/her playing strength. On Friday, top seeds in both sections of the World Junior Chess Championship ran into far lesser-rated Indian rivals and fell well short of playing to their strengths.

The world’s top-ranked junior girl, China’s Zhu Jiner (2507) crashed to demoralising defeat at the hands of 73rd seed V. Toshali (1868). The fate of the top seed in the open section, Iran’s Amin Tabatabaei (2642) was a shade better when he managed to draw with a gritty Rithvik Raja (2369).

Toshali, an 18-year-old second year student from Visakhapatnam, produced a flawless performance to pull off the biggest win for an Indian in the competition. This 28-move shut out a player rated 639 points higher was the surprise of the day.

If Zhu Jiner was looking for a hat-trick of wins following her shock second-round defeat, Toshali was looking to recover from the loss in the previous round.

“Perhaps, Zhu underestimated me at some point and did not play accurately,” said Toshali following the analysis of her game and continued, “I did take a bit more time but my calculations proved perfect. I don’t remember beating such a strong player.”

Rithvik Raja made light of a rating difference of 273 points to hold a struggling Tabatabaei in 58 moves following an endgame involving knight and pawns.

Meanwhile on the leading boards, second seed M. Karthikeyan defeated Harshit Raja to share the second spot at four points. Fellow Grandmaster P. Iniyan matched Karthikeyan’s tally by beating lower-rated Mongolian Ganzorig Amartuvshin. However, R. Praggnanandhaa’s ploy of trading his rook for a bishop backfired against new leader Ukraine’s Evgeny Shtembuliak (4.5) and resulted in his first loss.

Praggnanandhaa’s sister R. Vaishali, the strongest Indian in the girls’ section, accounted for Vantika Agarwal. The marathon 98-move battle involving two Nagpur girls’ saw Divya Deshmukh tame Mrudul Dehankar. Earlier, the second board clash involving Arpita Mukherjee and Rakshitta Ravi ended in a draw.

Important fifth-round results (Indians unless stated):

Open: Evgeny Shtembuliak (Ukr, 4.5) bt R. Praggnanandhaa (3.5); Aram Hakobyan (Arm, 4) bt Ruiz Miguel Santos (Esp, 3.5); Raja Harshit (3) lost to M. Karthikeyan (4); Zhangos Agmanov (Kaz, 3) drew with Shant Sargsyan (Arm, 3); Gunzorig Amartuvshin (Mgl, 3) lost to P. Iniyan (4); Leon Mendonca (3.5) drew with Semen Khanin (Rus, 3.5). Ravi Haria (Eng, 3.5) drew with Aaryan Varshney (3.5); Rithvik Raja (3.5) drew with Amin Tabatabaei (Iri, 3).

Girls: Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 4) drew with Boldbaatar Altantuya (Mgl, 4.5); Arpita Mukherjee (4) drew with Rakshitta Ravi (4); Mobina Alinasab (Iri, 4.5) bt N. Priyanka (3.5); R. Vaishali (4) bt Vantika Agarwal (3); Divya Deshmukh (3) v Mrudul Dehankar (3); V. Toshali (3.5) bt Zhu Jiner (Chn, 2.5).

IRCTC launches tour packages from Vizag to Rajasthan, Gaya and Thailand

Source: yovizag.com

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) has initiated special tour packages from Vizag to Rajasthan, Gaya, and Thailand. The tours will be conducted in the months of August and September to facilitate those looking to explore the aforementioned places.

Overall, the packages will include airfare, a visit to several famous tourist destinations, accommodation in 3-star hotels, breakfast and dinner as per itinerary and many other facilities.

Land of Royals- Rajasthan
The trip to Rajasthan has been organized in such a way that all the major tourist destinations, including Saheliyon ki Bari in Udaipur, Hawa Mahal, Jal Mahal, the Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, and the Narangah Fort, will be covered. The 5-day trip will commence with a connecting flight to Rajasthan will departing from Vizag on 13 August. The tour will cover prominent sightseeing cities like Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur and the Shilpgram Village of arts and crafts. The trip will eventually end on 18 August with a flight returning to Vizag.

The package will cost Rs.36590 for single occupancy, Rs.30870 for double occupancy, Rs.29940 for triple occupancy, Rs.26545 for a child with a bed, Rs.22340 for a child without bed. The package includes a tour manager as well.

Gaya Pind Daan
IRCTC has also introduced tour packages to the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh covering 4 nights- 5 days stay in Patna, Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Sarnath, and Allahabad. Famous tourist destinations like the Mahabodhi Temple, Vishnu Padam Temple (also called the Pinda Pradanam), the Kal Bhairav Temple, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Patalpuri. Tourists will also get an opportunity to do the legendary Aarthi at the Ganga Ghats.

The package will cost Rs.31295 for single occupancy, Rs.23755 for double occupancy, Rs.23325 for triple occupancy and Rs.22090 for a child with a bed.

Treasures of Thailand
IRCTC will also be organising a tour from Vizag to Thailand. The trip begins on 15 August with a flight leaving Vizag at 12:10 am. The first day of the tour will witness a visit to Gems Gallery in Pattaya and an evening Alcazar show followed by a night stay in Pattaya. After breakfast, the tourists are expected to proceed to Coral Island and the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden. Food will be arranged at an Indian restaurant. Once in Bangkok, arrangements will be made to visit places like the Wat Traimit, Wat Pho, i.e. the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Safari World, Marine Park, etc.

The package will cost Rs.47141 for single occupancy, Rs.41535 for double occupancy, Rs.41535 for triple occupancy, Rs.39488 for a child with bed and Rs.31569 for a child without bed.