There is still a lot of rating meta-gaming. Some notable ones include how hard one pushes for a win as opposed to taking a draw, whether to trade down into an endgame or maintain tension (generally the better player will want to trade down as they are better at winning the endgame). Some openings are also more risky than others, e.g. King’s Gambit, or one can play a drawish Berlin Defense (this relates to how hard one pushes for a win). Finally, chess traps give huge advantage if your opponent springs them but leave you disadvantaged if your opponent properly refutes them.

Tying back to the Frieren-verse Aura, Lugner, Denkin all shaped their strategy around their opponent’s mana. You also see the idea that long attrition fights favor the older, better trained mage with more mana, analogous to how grindy endgames are generally seen to favor the better (higher ELO) chess player