Chess is a great game with a strategic spirit, but I wouldn't necessarily say that the player with a better memory wins, I think that over trivializes their study. From what I'm aware, top players are very familiar with possible moves or strategies, but if both players know the same or similar set of moves, then they still must strategize to out predict or surprise the other, and so the game still comes down to strategy - the spirit of the game.

An experienced player, with or without memorized past games, will almost always beat out an inexperienced player, not much about any game can change that