I often feel lost in this kind of plan :
I have the "advantage about pieces value" but I do not find clearly how to take advantage of this.
I actually don't even know if the best would be to exchange the pieces or find a way to mat...
Hopes that you could give me some advice !
The best way to understand how to realize an advantage is to study typical endgames. Then you get a feel of what you can do with a rook against a knight or a bishop, with a queen and a pawn against a rook and a pawn, etc... If you can assess the endgames properly, you will take better decisions about exchanges in the middlegame, you will know when it is best to simplify and when you should strive for a direct attack.
This being said, realizing an advantage is like playing with the initiative. The same principles apply : rook to open files, bishop to open diagonals, pressure one weakness until defenders are busy and then switch target (the "two weakness principle"), etc.
In the final position you are an exchange up for a pawn. That is a considerable advantage, but not always easy to realise. Moreover, you have an advantage in development as he still has 2 pieces on their starting squares and you only one. You also control the centre with your queen and knight. The plan is to occupy open files with your rooks i.e. Re1 and Rb1. As your opponent only has one rook, he cannot keep up. You won on time while your opponent still had 8 of his 10 minutes on his clock. Did you think about a plan in the 8 minutes you were waiting for his clock to run to zero?
Plan? Your plan is always the same for all players under 1700. Your plan is to take free pieces and not blunder your own. Sorry but anything other than tactics is just pointless.
I play with no plan really. I move my pieces, then i wait for opponent to blunder. Thats it.
@Dilian trying to follow a reasonable plan doesn't hurt at any level though. Once the OP gets better at tactics he has to fight vs the bad habits he develops from all the cheapo-play. I find it that this site is quite populated with people who are decent tacticians but don't give a thing about such basics like piece development or basic endgames. Maybe they adapt their play for 3+0, who knows.
But I agree with you in a sense that going all-in on opening theory (which nobody at that lvl knows) or rare endgames (things like Q vs BB / NN are just lol and even K+B+N vs K is somewhat overrated) isn't the way to go either.
Having a plan and strategic toughts can be applied after you practiced tactics , enough so you dont give free pieces , pawns, and miss opponents free pieces etc.
Otherwise is just a distraction
The guy plays Bb5 then back to e2. And you guys talk about plan. Learn fundamentals first. Then tactics.
After that... tactics again.