Sherman Tolbert, 56, (left) sets up his chess board in downtown Lawrence almost every day. "It's the conversation with people. Some of it's spiritual. Some of it's political," he says. "I like to think."

His partner for this game is Ken Soap, 29, a Lawrence DJ.

Tolbert oversees the Salvation Army's local shelter and teaches cognitive therapy to inmates." "People teach you the alphabet and they teach you social studies. But no one teaches you to look at your thinking," he says.

He voted for the first time in the November elections, though for a presidential write-in instead of Obama. "I wasn't pleased with any of the candidates."