Another Beginners Post-Mortem

Right, I would really appreciate some help with my gameplay. I tried to play Sicilian defence (I play as black by the way). Obviously it didn't work out very well, since I lost the game. It would be really nice of some of the more experienced players (that is, most of you guys) could help me out with what to think about for my future games... Thank you :)

I added my comments on some of the moves in the board below.

Well, as a beginner myself, I would say two things first: you show a great deal of courage going into the Sicilian from black’s side of the board.  Well done.  Second: I would avoid the Sicilian from the black side of the board.  Personally, I have never used it simply because there is so much theory on it that one little slip (and I’m not talking about a blunder, I’m talking about a misplaced tempo) can spell disaster quickly especially against someone who knows the theory well.  There are books written on these positions.  My advice is, while you’re still learning, meet e4 with e5 and try to develop naturally from there.  That said, as far as your game goes I noticed a few things which may or may not be relevant.  Like I said, I’m a beginner as well.  Firstly, annotating your own games is a great practice to get into.  I didn’t start doing that myself until much later, and when I went back to some of my older games, I realized I made moves that simply made no sense.  The other thing that struck me was the stonewall in the center.  Positions like that usually remain closed which means the bishops won’t be as strong as they are in open games when their long range ability is much more pronounced.  So when you took his bishop early on (can’t remember what turn that was) your thinking made sense, but it wasn’t going to help you too much in the game.  It was that same move that closed the center and gave white the d5 hole.  Outside of that, I’m sure there were other problems, but you know why you got mated, and given some time, I’m sure you can go through the game again and find other errors.  My advice is to stay away from the Sicilian right now and concentrate on meeting e4 with e5. 

I agree with Gimly. This beginner fixation with the Sicilian Defence just because they've heard it's the 'most played' or 'best opening' is astoundingly common and, unfortunately, restricts the development of many players who are just learning the ways of chess.

For a player to learn and grow properly, you simply should not start with the most in-depth and complicated openings possible. Keep the positions open, keep them tactical - that's how to progress, at least to begin with! 

Actually, the way I see it - you played the sicilian defense, your opponent played a silly offbeat line and you countered it well.
You erred later on in the game but it had nothing to do with your choice of opening. This could happen in any game of yours. Just practise your tactics regularly, and you'll spot mates like this one more often so you can anticipate them.

try the carro kann or french or scandanavian easy openings to learn and it gets into a great game (my expierience since i have played all of them)

2.Qf3?....Nf6?              (better was ......Nc6 and if then 3.Bc4...Ne5 gaurds f7 and forks the queen and bishop as you did later in the game)

3.Bc4?(better for white was e5! blacks only move is Ng8 undeveloping then Bc4 threatening mate and forcing e6 wich weakens the d6 square)

after that you played fine until  move 7      7........e5?      before this move the position was equal maybe even a plus for black but 7...e5 turns the tables and gives white a clear advantage. Heres why.   bishops are generally accepted to be very slightly better than knights because of the speed in wich they can operate and manuever while knights are slightly slower. Knights only become better than bishops when they get advanced outposts. an advanced outpost is an active square a knight can sit on deep in enemy teritory where it cant be exchanged or driven away by pawns. By playing e5? you created one of these squares on d5 better was 7........e6 maintaining control of the square and there is no reason to feer Bxf6 because blacks 2 bishops and open g file will embarrass the white knights that have no good advanced outposts.

a few more moves went by and white played 9.Bxf6!  when you have the superior minor piece (wich white will after a later Nd5)  you want to exchange off everything else this increases your advantage.  Blacks knight on f6 helped defend the d5 square while whites bishop on g5 did nothing for the d5 square so Bxf6!!!! is great. the game of chess is not about checkmate it is about creating favorable imbalances until your opponent cracks. after blacks 7......e5? the rest of the game revolves around nothing but the d5 square if yolu didnt realize that than thats what you need to take from this game pawns cant go backwards to defend squares

french defence i one to look up he played bg5 dificult to deal with it is not many western players play it and 2 qf3 is a new one leave the sicillian for distant future

the opening was decently played. it's good to play the sicilian and try to improve your play in it for long term achievements. as far as i can see your mistakes were in the middlegame. the capture on f6 was definitely vital, but also as far as i've read in sicilian books, one of the main strategies is to put pressure on the e4 pawn. so your light squared bishop might have been better on b7 than on a6. another thing, you can't play the sicilian passively. this defence was meant for aggressive counter attacks in the middlegame.