I strongly believe some people are inherently good at chess but no one is inherently bad. If you're interested enough to comment this, play one 5-minute game a day on lichess. Start with the lowest setting but do it every day, maybe in the morning with coffee. You might not win a single game the first year but slowly you'll improve. When you're winning more, move up a level. Sometimes do the puzzles. Give it five years and you'll be able to beat almost anyone you meet and, better yet, you'll know the answer to your question based on your own experience.

> where does the pattern matching stop and strategy starts or it's one and the same?

It's not one and the same, but strategy patterns are definitely a thing too.

There are:

- tactical patterns (e.g. "back rank checkmate", or "pair of pieces that can be forked by a pawn");

- strategy patterns (e.g. "knights are good in closed positions", or "in a same-colour bishop endgame, put your pawns on the colour opposite to the bishops").

There's also calculation ability which also partly relies on patterns one has seen before.

I became significantly better at chess through two simple things:

1. Take a little extra time to visualize what will happen after you make a move. Will the piece be vulnerable? Does moving that piece leave a different piece vulnerable? I'd argue the biggest beginner mistake is not seeing that their move leaves a different piece vulnerable to being captured.

2. Don't move your queen into the board until after you move both bishops. This simple rule of thumb makes it far less likely you will lose your queen early, and it forces you to do a lot of other useful things (develop your pieces, control a portion of the board, etc).

Disclaimer: I am not good at chess, but when I played semi-regularly these helped me hold my own against other beginners.