Watch a GM chess match. They’ll play memorized moves till a point and then they’ll be “out of the book” and will have to start dealing with novel positions outs

Watch a GM chess match. They’ll play memorized moves till a point and then they’ll be “out of the book” and will have to start dealing with novel positions outside of what they’ve learned or prepared prior. Do they memorize? Absolutely. Can they also play completely novel positions better than anyone else? Absolutely.