The Water Buffalo Game

And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song.  So without further ado, Silly Songs with Larry.

(A small cucumber hops onstage and introduces his song.)

The Water Buffalo Song!

Oh, everybody's got a water buffalo
Yours is fast but mine is slow
Oh where'd we get them I don't know
But everybody's got a water buffaloooOOOOOOOOOOO...

Setup

The setup is identical to FIDE Chess and can be played with a regular set.  The major difference is that the Queen is replaced by a Water Buffalo.

To one side of the board there should also be a marker which can be oriented towards either player; in play this will show whose Water Buffalo is Fast and whose is Slow.  (Ideally this marker should have the words Fast and Slow on opposite sides, in a manner such that said marker can be rotated and both players can still read what is on their side.)

Pieces

Rules

At the start of the game, the marker should be oriented to show that Black's Water Buffalo is Fast.  Only one player's Water Buffalo will be Fast at any given time.  Whenever a Fast Water Buffalo moves Fastly (i.e. not as a King) it loses its Fast status and the other player gains it, which can be shown by a reorienting of the marker.

All other rules are the same as FIDE Chess.

Notes

Stop, stop, stop right this instant, what do you think you're doing?  You can't say everyone's got a water buffalo as everyone does NOT HAVE a water buffalo!  We're going to get nasty letters saying "Where's my water buffalo!  Why don't I have a water buffalo?", and are you prepared to deal with it?  I don't think so!  STOP BEING SO SILLY!

All quotes and lyrics copyright Big Idea Productions.