This is how I feel as well. I did a little studying, but it not only felt like a treadmill, I actually felt like I was using less of my critical thinking skills the more I studied. Stuff like memorizing openings, memorizing the best move a chess engine would give you for certain situations, stuff like grandmasters memorizing entire games - this all seemed to be pretty common. I didn't see the point in putting in work only to enjoy the game less.
Of course, plenty of people enjoy a much more memorization heavy game. But it feels like ruining the fun part of the game to me.
I'm 1700-1800ish lichess (Crazyhouse and King of the Hill). I agree with this, but with one caveat. I memorize a few openings just because games can get crazy sharp pretty quickly, and there are a few patterns or move orders in the opening to memorize just so you aren't mated quickly.
I don't memorize games several moves deep, just 3-4 maybe 5 depending on the opening, which especially in Crazyhouse as there are only probably 3-4 good openins.
I love playing Scrabble (with people I know), still competitive, but try to play words you know and share the meanings after the game so it's fun and you learn.
(Scrabble champions just memorize the spelling not the meaning) (They probably also know a lot of the meanings but my point still stands)
I feel the same way, and it's what drove me to backgammon instead. Lots of fun, far less things to memorize to be competitive, and the dice make it exciting (and infuriating!).
It's like studying the meta instead of actually playing.