Petrosian Arrested as Spy by Israeli Soldiers!

Just look how proud they are, having captured their spy, and how despairing and depressed the then-world champion, Tigran Petrosian, looks.

OK, not really. Yes, these are Israeli soldiers flanking Petrosian in the picture, but they are not arresting him. They are just young chess players, on leave from their army service, visiting the 1964 chess Olympiad in Israel. That they are still in uniform means that they didn't bother going home to change into civilian clothes--they came right from their army base to the Olympiad. The picture is from the personal collection of Itzhak Bar-Ziv, who is one of the soldiers.

So why does Petrosian look as if he's really being arrested? Don't look at me... I'm just the blogger...