That's the problem with chess, you are correct it is supposed to be a game and it can still be fun with two novice players but once you get to a certain level it becomes a game of memorization, and everyone has to memorize certain movies to keep up after you memorize as many moves as anyone else it becomes a game again because you finally get to invent new moves no one has tried before but at that point only a handful of people on earth are even a challenge to you.

Some people want to min / max, too much sometimes