7. Sergey Karjakin (2766)(9) Chance: 6%
Sergey Karjakin owes a debt of gratitude to Kramnik for edging out Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the World cup. Amusingly Karjakin’s fate was in Kramnik’s hands because had Kramnik lost to Vachier-Lagrave Kramnik would have then taken Karjakin’s spot as one of the next two highest rated players who played in the Chess World Cup 2013 or FIDE Grand Prix 2012-2013. That’s enough minutia for the time being. Karjakin’s play seems to have stalled somewhat. He was ousted in the World Cup by Andreikin and he was not able to qualify through the Grand Prix (although he only played 3 games). He did have a good result in the Tata Steel tournament finishing second behind Aronian. His chances are roughly equal with Anand, Svidler and Mamedyarov.
Here are his results against the field:
| Opponent | Result (W-L-D) | Last 5 Games |
|---|---|---|
| Levon Aronian | 3-7-14 | 1-2-2 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 0-2-8 | 1-0-4 |
| Veselin Topalov | 2-6-3 | 2-1-2 |
| Viswanathan Anand | 0-2-8 | 0-0-5 |
| Peter Svidler | 2-3-13 | 0-1-4 |
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 4-4-9 | 1-2-2 |
| Dmitry Andreikin | 1-1-5 | 0-1-4 |