New Delhi: Panchanathan Magesh Chandran became India’s 12th Grandmaster when he tied for first place in the $180,000 33rd Philadelphia Open.

The 22-year-old Magesh lost to GM Kamil Milton of Poland in the title play-off after tying for the top spot and scored 7.5 points from the nine rounds in the 204-player event to obtain his third and final GM norm on Monday, according to information received here.

Magesh, a student in the University of Texas in Dallas, had got his first GM norm by winning the Asian junior championship in Sri Lanka in 2003 and completed his second norm at Bar in Serbia in March this year.

Magesh’s main strength in the event was his consistency amid a star studded field. His points came from excellent performances against strong players like Jaan Ehlvest, Yuri Shulman and Alexander Shabalov.

Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda, who also took part in the competition, had a memorable outing in the event as he shocked former world championship candidate Gata Kamsky of United States in the final round to share the third spot with seven points.

National champion Surya Sekhar Ganguly shared the seventh place on 6.5 points. Nisha Mohota finished with 5.5 points while Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury had five points.