Ben Reiniger wrote on Mon, Mar 28, 2011 04:21 PM UTC:
Not to spark another debate on what constitutes a chess variant, but I imagine this fails the criteria for most people. Gameplay is nothing like chess, but uses chess equipment. (This is not to say it doesn't belong here, I think CV.org should be fairly all-inclusive of anything chess related.)
As to MP's proposed alternate puzzle solution, it assumes that the ball may be kicked 'past' an allied piece. This seems to be disallowed by the rules, but not specifically. If we think of chess, such a move should be disallowed; if we think of soccer it should be allowed. Also, the rules disallow passing to an unmoved piece which doesn't follow soccer very closely. (I would propose each piece be allowed a null move, that would include the possibility of passing to a friendly piece provided it makes the next (null) move and kick.)
Note too the applets
/play/erf/SoccerC1.html
/play/erf/SoccerC2.html
(interestingly, Ed doesn't have a link on his personal page to SoccerC2; finding it here was my first clue to its existence!)