In the grounds of The Park hotel in Visakhapatnam (aka Vizak), Andhra Pradesh.
Fly in from Hyderabad and you're greeted by a large industrial site and an impressive port with ships aplenty. On the ground, it'll take 30 minutes or so to reach the hotel from the rather basic airport but you're rewarded by green-capped hills and trees bearing beautiful orangey-red leaves. It's more developed than other places I've seen in India but the disparity between the "haves and have nots" is clearly evident.
The route to the beach was decidely stinky, to be polite, and the big brown boulders in the sea could so easily have been something else. Took a stroll along the beach, which is unfortunately littered...especially with cast-off flip-flops. Locals are friendly. The vast blue sea is breath-taking. Add in the thunderous roll of waves crashing across the beach and it's easy to walk for an age.
Needless to say, I didn't find time to play chess and instead took the aforementioned stroll. After all, chess is a young man's game these days (apologies to The Fast Show).