The Secret to Winning Against Higher Rated Opponents in Blitz

I usually play 3-minute blitz games in lichess.org. It's an exciting format in chess where I have play quickly to not lose on time. In the following game, I'm playing against a 2028 rated opponent. I'm playing with the white pieces so I have the advantage. White moves first so I can somehow dictate how the game will go with the opening I play. The game started with 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 { D00 Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System } Nc6 3. e3 Bf5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. c3 e6 6. Qb3

After six moves, we reached a position I'm very familiar with. I'm threatening his pawn of b7 with my Queen on b3. Avoiding the the threat with b6 would be a big mistake as I've posted before https://peakd.com/hive-157286/@iamchessguy/avoid-this-trap-in-the-london

Black's reply was 6....Rb8 avoiding the above trap. There is a danger to this move with my dark-squared bishop trained on the h2-b8 diagonal. I won a lot of games, even rated over the board games in tournaments because my opponent forgot about my dark squared bishop in this opening. 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. Ne5 Bxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Nf3 Be4 11. Bb5

Some pressure on my e5 pawn with Black's light squared bishop threatening to take my Knight defending it. My reply Bb5 indirectly defends the pawn by pinning his own Knight.

The game continued 11....Bxf3 12. gxf3

I have a broken pawn formation but in exchange, I have more activity and attacking chances with the open g-file. Activity is important when playing blitz where short term tactics are keys to winning rather than long term strategy. 12. ...Ncxe5? {this move was made with the idea of an in-between move c6 which was mistake} 13. Bxe5 c6?

A blunder. Black forgot about my bishop sniping his rook. The idea of c6 was to attack my light square bishop and relieve the pin from his knight on d7 which can then capture my piece on e5. The transaction would have netted black with a pawn if not for his rook on b8. After this blunder, the win was easy with white a piece up but my opponent refused to resign because of his higher rating. There might still be a chance to save the game. 14. Bxb8 Qxb8 15. Bd3 Ne5 16. Qd1 c5 17. f4 Nxd3+ 18. Qxd3 c4 19. Qd4 O-O 20. Rg1 g6 21. h4 b6 22. h5 Qd8 23. O-O-O Qh4 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Rg2 Qh3 26. Rdg1 Rf5 27. Rg5 Kf7 28. Rxf5+ exf5 29. Qxd5+ Kg7 30. Qb7+ Kf6 31. Rd1 Ke6 32. Qd7+ Kf6 33. Qd8+ Kg7 34. Qd7+ Kh6 35. Qb7 g5 36. Rh1 Qxh1+ 37. Qxh1+ Kg6 38. Qg1 g4 39. Qg3 h5 40. Qh4 Kh6 41. Qg5+ { Black resigns. } 1-0

Link to game: https://lichess.org/BTZETtyb

As for the secret to winning against higher rated opponents in blitz, you have to be familiar with the position you will play. Being familiar with the position will let you find moves faster which is important in games where you only have seconds to make a move. Play for active positions where you can have targets and attacking chances. It's easier to play when you're the attacker rather than defending. Defending against attacks will make you feel pressured and panicked which will often lead to blunders or lost time. As the great Mikhail Tal once said:

"You must take your opponent into a deep, dark forest in which two plus two equals five, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."