Several European and Russian bookmakers are predicting victory for Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian at the Candidates Tournament, slated for March 10-28.

The winner of the 8-player event will be the challenger of Magnus Carlsen at the World Chess Championship 2018.

Also participating in the double round-robin tournament are Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Wesley So (U.S.), Fabiano Caruana (U.S.), DIng Liren (China), Alexander Grischuk (Russia) and Sergey Karjakin (Russia).

Aronian will face Ding in round 1 of the tournament on March 10.