Chess960: Two steps forward one step back at Saint Louis

Disappointing news today that the two Chess960 greats Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian are back for another Chess showdown at Saint Louis Chess Club but there will be no Chess960.

The questions I ask are:

• Why is this exhibition being hosted right at the climax of the 2014 Chess world championship at Sochi?
• Perhaps it is because the promoters hope that the internet exposure will be larger?
• Perhaps this exhibition is trying to display an alternative more innovative format for a future chess world championship?
• Why no Chess960 between the two great 960 players? 

A few months ago the Saint Louis Chess hosted a Chess960 match between Nakamura and Aronian at the Sinquefield cup 2014 called "Ultimate Moves" but it was botched. There was no live stream, no commentary of the match and it was tacked onto the end of the tournament when most commentators and journalists had left the venue.

So this new Chess showdown could have fixed all that damage and promoted Chess960 with a properly organised Chess960 showdown.

But no! Really disappointing. Such an opportunity wasted.