Not my best, but a learning experience

So I was playing a game of chess today and I randomed as black. I decided not to do my usual e5 and instead out of the blue tried the sicilian defence, an opening I was not at all familiar with and before this game had never attempted.

So any and all tips on actually playing the sicilian defence properly would be VERY appreciated, also he had me in a few sticky situations (before we drew even though it was faily certain that he would win) in mid game and I was wondering how I could have combated that better resulting in less pawn loss, which really hurt me endgame.

And finally this game was pivotal for me in that it was the first game where I really had a goal that I (nearly) accomplished in the endgame, and obviously tops on endgame would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game.html?id=9808299

Tips on endgame, not tops... : D

play 3...d6 instead of 3...d5 which messes up your pawn structure.

6...Qa5+ was a bad move, you let him develop his bishop for nothing.  Make sure you know whats going to happen in the next few moves before you move a piece, or else you give him advantages for nothing in return.

16...e6 would have been better than 16...e5 as you have your pawn out in the middle with no protection from an adjacent pawn.

21...Kxf6 would have been better to keep your pawn structure intact, and get your king to the middle of the board and involved in the endgame.

Overall comments

The point of the sicilian is (generally) to get castled kingside fast, and mount a vicious counterattack on the queenside.  You compromised your pawn structure and some of your protective abilities by playing ...d5 instead of ...d6.  You should have worked to castle quicker.  Look at your moves to make sure you're not giving him free development.  In terms of the endgame,

23...h5 was questionable, 23...Ke6 would have been a better way to free your bishop and protect the 6th file where you had 2 weak pawns.

25. Kd7 didn't accomplish anything and left your pawn on f6 undefended. 

If white had played 36. Kf2 instead of 36.g3, i think he wins easily.

You accepted a draw when you had Re8+ winning his rook and queening your pawn? tch!

I think the opening wasn't the problem, at your level you should really be studying tactics .

And I agree with xMenace , You could have won that game!

For tips on the sicilian - move your e-pawn earlier then your bishop to e7

                                 - normally, I would play d6 before Nf6 to prevent e4-e5

I play the sicilian as black more often than anything else.  Ive tried a few other openings but for my style the sicilian works best.  There are a few main variations of the sicilian that I really like, Najdorf and Dragon are a couple.  The main them of the main idea behind the sicilian is that white is giving up control of the center for a lead in development.  Thinking about that for a second, as black you want to make sure that you continue to strengthen your position and control of the center, at the same time prevent white from being able to use his lead in development for a quick attack.

Your pawn push to d5 is was my least favorite move of your opening moves.  Much better would have been d6.  Moving the pawn to d6 allows you to bring out your king side knight with out fear of being chased back by whites e pawn.  Then the next order of business is to get that Knight out to take further control of the d5 square and then fiencheto the dark square bishop onto g7.