The world chess federation FIDE recently made the incredibly transphobic and mysogynist ruling to exclude trans women from competing in women's tournaments, to strip trans men of pre-transition titles and to subject trans people to a two-year long surveilance process that could lead to forced outings. The German and French chess federation have now decided to ignore this ruling. Source in German (mostly with the info from the image): https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=46744
Sure, you memorize openings, but it's nowhere near as superhuman as it sounds. It's like memorizing different routes to your workplace. Go down the roads often enough and you know where to turn.