2. Levon Aronian (2826)(2) Chance: 25%
I place Aronian’s chances of winning this event right around equal to Kramnik’s. Aronian has been playing second fiddle to Carlsen for years. He managed to win the Tata Steel tournament quite recently which was a good result for him. Personally I rate his chances just below Kramniks chances; to me Aronian just doesn’t have that killer spirit; he seems to falter or get “sick” in critical games. He is of course world number two and you don’t get there by being a slouch. He recently played a nice game against Karjakin recently at the Tata Steel tournament:
Here is his record against the candidates field:
| Opponent | Result (W-L-D) | Last 5 Games |
|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Kramnik | 3-7-19 | 1-1-3 |
| Vesilin Topalov | 3-6-11 | 0-0-5 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 7-2-18 | 1-1-3 |
| Sergey Karjakin | 7-3-14 | 2-1-2 |
| Peter Svidler | 3-3-19 | 2-1-2 |
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2-3-10 | 0-0-5 |
| Dmitry Andreikin | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |