5. Peter Svidler (2758)(11) Chance: 10%
Last year Svidler had a very important role in the candidates tournament. He proved that he belongs with this elite group of players by taking down Carlsen in the final round allowing that strange tiebreak situation that we all witnessed. Additionally he really impressed me in the World cup (outside of his match with Andreikin that is… and that loss in the first round to Ushenina). He needs to figure out a way to beat the veterans in this tournament (Anand, Topalov) if he’s going to have a shot at the top spot. If I had to place my money on a dark horse he would be my choice. Here is a recent game of his against Andreikin from the Russian Superfinals:
Here is his results against the field:
| Opponent | Result (W-L-D) | Last 5 Games |
|---|---|---|
| Levon Aronian | 3-3-19 | 1-2-2 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 3-7-18 | 1-1-3 |
| Veselin Topalov | 5-8-12 | 0-3-2 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 0-6-20 | 0-1-4 |
| Sergey Karjakin | 3-2-13 | 1-0-4 |
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2-2-4 | 1-2-2 |
| Dmitry Andreikin | 1-0-4 | 1-0-4 |