I kindly disagree. It may appear that chess is a memoization game, but when or if you want to become a master of the game , you'll notice that rote learning will not take you there.

You do need to understand phases of the game, set up strategy, estimate your position, know when to attack or to defend, and have confidence in your technique.

Mind you, that is only for the plain master title (FIDE or even a national master). Grandmasters are a whole new level in comparison, aliens.