Don't be intimidated by rating!

This game is from the current 2007 World Cup where IM Anuar Ismagambetov upsets GM Evgeny Alekseev after being outranked by 236 rating points! Here is IM Ismagambetov - GM Alekseev with full annotations and commentary:

This was well played by IM Anuar Ismagambetov who was outranked by his opponent by 236 rating points. He did many things right in this game: 1) Avoid playing intentionally for a draw, he played a very double edged sicilian position with opposite side castling which would likely end in a decisive result for one side or the other, 2) Stayed calm after seeing opposite side castling and pawn storms, 3) Attack rather than defend! He attacked the black king rather than waste time defending his own and hoping for a draw, 4) Finding clear plans and ideas to execute rather than playing random moves and hoping that he might drift into a draw, 5) Winning the won game! After being up an exchange (rook for minor piece) he quickly took on a kingside offensive against the black king with precise and exact moves.

There is a lot to be learned from this game and the pyschological situation of playing a much higher rated opponent. You should not have a defeated mindset when starting the game against a much higher rated opponent but rather stick to your game plan as you normally would against any other opponent.