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I didnt mean you shouldnt respect your opponents. I was more referring to being intimidated. A lot of players I know will simply lose, because they expect to lose.

I agree with many of the points made above, especially, as Lost Highway suggested, to simply avoid the wall charts until after the round.  Sure, you many know that you're "playing up" but maybe not having a number assigned to your opponent could make it easier.

Of course, I think that there is more to the story: the stronger your opponent is, the better able he will be to play for complications in an inferior or even losing position.  I have seen enough games where a GM snatches victory from the jaws of defeat against IMs and FMs to think that this might be part of the problem, even at relatively high levels of play, and not simply psychology.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, many people often are enthusiastic about playing stronger players, and indeed raise the level of their game when doing so.  In cases like these, it may simply be the difficulty of maintaining this more intense level of concentration for such a long period of time.  Of course, this is related to the above -- the weaker the player, the less likely he can play well from an losing position.

We have got 2 players at our club who are a notch above the rest to use an understatement. I never got anywhere against them, sometimes I held out until near the endgame when I would screw up. 
Then I read an interview with a renegade politician. He basically said that they may have more power, they may have better support, they may have better understanding, but they have to beat you first and that aint going to happen. Since then I havent lost against them (including blitz) and I dont play weird openings or somesuch I take them on in the main lines.
My point basically is that you have to lose respect. They may be better players, but they have to prove it first.
Euwe beat Alekhine, Smyslov beat Botwinnik, Tal beat Botwinnik, Kasparov beat Karpov and Greece won the EC

Alias,

I think I can fully relate to you and I guess, sharing my experience and acquired knowledge might be of help to you.

It is not at the same level. But my son (FIDE rating 1952) has this problem. I have reasons believe he is stronger than what his rating suggests. He has drawn with a couple of IMs He has same problems you have narrated. Your problem, imho, is largely psychological.

The sequence is some thing like this. Lots and lots of good moves, systematically out playing the opponent, losing the grip a bit, one or two medium sized inaccuracies followed by a blunder that throws the winning chances away. Another characteristic of people like you is that quite a few of your wins will be grossly one sided, with opponent remaining a spectator.

Well, I kept telling him, there is no way I can coach him for the goals (that’s the slang in Indian chess circle for blunders and major inaccuracies) he keeps kicking in matches. I mean, if we get convincingly beaten we will learn some thing new and not from this way of playing.

Helpless and perplexed with this problem, I sent his games to a strong GM (2600) for his opinion. He did an excellent job in analyzing various points about his game and suggested me to go over the games of Short in Short – Kasparov 1993 WC match. Especially the white games of Short. In most of them he had clear advantage only to throw them away. I mean, beating Kasparov did not feel normal to Short and he made difficulties for himself much the same way my son plays or as I think, the way you do. Short was 2655 and Kasparov was 2805 during the match.

What I am trying to say and I keep telling my son, Alias, is this. You get into good positions against players (temporarily) with higher rating than you, because you are a good player and you are bound to get good positions on the board. It is not a matter of chance. In these cases, it is better to take a deep breath, relax and continue the way you played to get there in the first place.

My son is unable to do it easily. Hard to expect it from a ten year old. Beating good players should feel normal to him. It’s a function of experience. But, in your case you can work at it and get over it much more easily. Good Luck.

I hope this helps.

I just lost a game. Normally it wouldn't be so bad considering that he is an IM. 
He was slightly worse, being a pawn down when he unexpectedly snatched a pawn back. It was easy to calculate that he would actually loose a piece but I failed to do so and lost soon after. 

In the previous round, I played an uneventful draw against a FM with 2350.

I often tend to use too much time against lower rated players trying to find the very best move in every move.

a) Should I be happy drawing much higher rated players even though the games are dull? (I don't think so.)

b) Is it a psychological thing missing good opportunities against higher rated players? 

c) How do I set my mind not to think about my opponent's rating?