Indeed! And you can beat strong players virtually with any opening. Do not beat yourself because you don't know X and Y openings, and do not justify your losses as a consequence of your lack of preparation. Positional play and tactical vision are much more important.
Here I played against an opponent rated almost 200 points more than me.
Nicator65 - me!
1.e4 a6?!?! 2.d4 b5 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 Nf6
I suspect that the fianchetto is not the best system to prove Black wrong.
5.d5 e6 6.Ne2 exd5 7.exd5 Bc5 8.0-0 0-0
The pawn is limiting Black's bishop in b7, but it is also a target. White should be fine thanks also to his space advantage, but Black is OK as well. An imbalanced equality is on the table.
9.c4 d6 10.cxb5 axb5 11.Nc3 b4 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Nd7 14.Bg2 Re8
I do not see why White should start this massive piece exchange. At the end of the line, Black has obtained the initiative and all his pieces are developed or in good squares. Notice that 14...Re8 is a strong flexible move. The square e8 is surely the best for the rook. There was also the possibility to play Nf6 or Ne5, but it is still unclear which square is the best. So Black does best playing the "obvious" move first, and waiting to see how things develop before deciding where to move the knight.
15.Nf4 Qf6! 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Qxb2 18.Rf2 Qc3 19.e4 Nf6
If you think prophylactically, 15...Qf6 is easy to find. What did White hoped to achieve at the beginning of the position? Developing the bishop! Qf6 attacks b2 and makes White's development complicated. My opponent decided to play Be3 nonetheless entering some complication, but Black has nothing to fear after capturing the pawn. Notice also that at the end of the concrete moves, Black finally knows which one is the best square for the knight!!
You see? Flexibility and prophylaxis dancing together.
20.Rc1 Qe3 21.Qd2 Qb6!
Of course Black does not want to trade queens while he is attacking.
22.Re1 Ng4
Winning material.
23.Re2 Ba6!
Even stronger than grabbing the pinned rook. Now both rooks have problems.
24.Re1 Bc4!
Elegantly ignoring the rook f2, by adding a new threat
25.h3 Rxa2 0-1
And here White had enough. So...did I win because I knew more of the opening!?
Here is the game on chess.com
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