Not taking advantage from being ahead.

So I just won this game, but I'm not satisfied with how I played. As soon as I took the knight lichess.org/QY4nKhXt/white#31 I seem to just stall and stall without taking the most advantage of my lead. And even though I had plenty of time, I felt under pressure. I also never seem to know whether I should move pawns or not.

I did all the practice tutorials, although a long while ago on another account. Would anyone have some time to give me some pointers?

Just reading your comments. Lack of practice, that‘s common. There are no books which replace tons of practice. Real practice, taking responsibility for your own moves - not those exercises.

If you want me to be critical...
* Use all of your pieces, not just your queen
* Exchanging pieces often accelerates your opponent's development
* Rooks belong on open files
* Think twice about exposing your king

"I seem to just stall and stall without taking the most advantage of my lead."
You did well. Only 30 Ng4?? gives him the piece back. If you have a won position, you should check even more for blunders.

"And even though I had plenty of time, I felt under pressure."
Why? There is no need. You have a won position. You have plenty of time. Invest that time in finding accurate moves. Relax. He cannot harm you if you do not harm yourself.

"I also never seem to know whether I should move pawns or not."
Be careful with pawn moves: they cannot go back. Other moves can be undone but pawn moves not. In general only move pawns to serve a purpose.
To secure central squares.
To attack ennemy central positions.
To open diagonals or files for bishops/rooks.
To create a passed pawn.
To advance a passed pawn.
To exchange a weak pawn.

@Priem19 #1
GM Donner in his book "The King" mentions something like : "Give me a worse position and I will fight and defend. Do not give me a won position with just one pawn more, as I will suffer !".
It is possible that you feel under pressure because you have the advantage and are expected to proceed and win.
If you have no experience with those kind of positions then it is an idea to study annotated games (By good annotating chess players), to play and analyse your own games, and perhaps to practice against a chess engine or with chess friends otb.
I've added a study (below) with some variations - in short, activate the rooks, push against the weak d6 pawn, and make the knight make the difference - And also be careful that the black pawns don't go rolling and become dangerous. Just trading all pieces might be a bit tricky in that case.


You did choose for a plan where :
*) You created a new weakness (with b2b4) without valid reasons really
*) You didn't activate all of your pieces
*) You later on opened up your kind's defense by pushing the g pawn

The white knight in this game would rather go to d5 than to f5.

Here a classic with annotations by GM Bobby Fischer, where the knight on d5 becomes the hero of the game :
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1031289

I'm glad I posted this; thanks for all your contributions. They're definitely helpful so I've got some work ahead of me.

I am not as good as the other players here but what I notice is that black is the only one with pawns in the center, and the restriction it puts on your play are quite real, look at the knight having to carefully maneuver AROUND the most crucial dark squares.

I don't understand why you play Rc1, the pawn is defended by another pawn already. Unless I am missing something that is just a wasted tempo. Your rook belongs on an open file.

There is a glaring weakness in black's camp and that is the backward pawn on d6, you should be looking at it with rook and queen, put pressure on it.
In my experience when you can put a lot of pressure on weakspots without your opponent finding a real way to get to pressure you back, you get to tie his pieces to those weaknesses while yours are slightly more free to explore their possibilities.