Basic ideas of the Sicilian Defence?

Im starting to learn the sicilian defence (transitioning from1...e5)  and i want to do it one step at a time. I bought starting out the sicilian defence and have a few online resources but i thought the best way to learn the defence is to first learn the basic ideas so i was wondering if anyone could improve on my ideas here:

1. The C pawn is ment to be traded for the D pawn but gives white a lead in development but my 2 vs 1 center pawn ratio wont allow him to have any early attack. The C pawn is basically only ment to stake a claim on d5. 

2. Its usually not a bad idea to fianchetto the bishop on g7 also known as the dragon bishop. 

3. The Knight on b8 is very flexable. I can choose to put it on c6 or d7 and sometimes even a6. 

4. Im pretty sure in the main sicilians like najdorf, schvengien, dragon i castle short so i should get used to doing that. 

5. The rook on a8 99% of the time end up on c8 or d8. Its just sensable. 

6. Look for the queen side pawn storm aka minority attack. 

7. The knight on g8 pretty much always goes to f6. 

Okay so those are the basic ideas i know about the sicilian but i do have a few question:

1. What are the main pawn breaks in the opening that i am trying to achieve later on or earlier on?

2. Are there any common knight manuevers? 

3. Any other common themes you can think of?

Of course this is very broad the sicilian has tons of variations but i want to start playing it without so much the memorization of lines and variations and just start playing 1...c5 with the basic sicilian ideas. FOr example, after 1.e4...c5

2.Nf3...i have no idea why black would play 2...d6 at all? i cant comprehend that. 

What are some of white's ideas in most sicilians?

Also, im going to start reading starting out the sicilian defence and watch GM games. Mainly fischer and kasparov. 

Any other reccomondations? 

The sicilian is probably the most complex defence to 1. e4!. I will try to answer you as best as I can:

1. The C pawn is ment to be traded for the D pawn but gives white a lead in development but my 2 vs 1 center pawn ratio wont allow him to have any early attack. 

Answer: Yes, white's best option is to open up the centre with 2. Nf3 and 3. d4. The idea is that white has to win the middlegame, else black has a nice advantage in the endgame (more control of the centre with the pawns). However, with so active white pieces, black will have to make counterattacks. Therefor, the sicilian is often double-edged. 

2. Its usually not a bad idea to fianchetto the bishop on g7 also known as the dragon bishop.

Answer: If you want to fianchetto, I advice you to either play the accelerated dragon or the dragon variation, don't combine. Dragodorf is just a worse variation of the dragon, and should only be a surprise weapon. The accelerated dragon (1. e4 c5 2. nf3 nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. nxd4 g6) is meant to be positional. However, white got this bind called Maroczy Bind (5. c4!), after which he will have a nice advantage. There is still a game, but a very positional game. The dragon is just tactics. If you like sharp games, this is not for you. If you love sharp games, you must have this in your repertoire. In the yugoslav attack (1. e4 c5 2. nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. nxd4 nf6 5. nc3 g6 6. be3 bg7 7. f3 nc6 (0-0) 8. qd2 0-0 (nc6) 9. bc4, it's all about tactics. White have this ready-made pawn storm, black has a piece attack. Whoever come first wins.

3. The Knight on b8 is very flexable. I can choose to put it on c6 or d7 and sometimes even a6. 

Answer: I have never seen it to a6. Often it goes to d7 in the Najdorf, because it's well placed on either e5 or c5. In other variations, it's most common on c6, to give more control of the centre.

4. Im pretty sure in the main sicilians like najdorf, schvengien, dragon i castle short so i should get used to doing that. 

Answer: Dragon: Yes. Najdorf: no. Schvenningen: i dont know. In the najdorf, black often keeps his king in the centre, since it's more safe there. Kasparov was expert in making pawn storms on both wings, and keep his king in the centre. It's not for mortals, but look at his games in the Najdorf. 

5. The rook on a8 99% of the time end up on c8 or d8. Its just sensable.

Answer: Yes, black often uses the c-file for counterplay. Since that is the half-open file, and he wants to play d5, Rac8 and Rfd8 (Rhd8 sometimes) is very common.

6. Look for the queen side pawn storm aka minority attack. 

Answer: YES. If you allow white to build his attack, he will mate you. Therefor, queenside counterplay is very important in the sicilian. 

7. The knight on g8 pretty much always goes to f6. 

Answer: Yes. Except in the original Taimanov sicilian, where Taimanov suggested Nge7. However, practice have shown that Nf6 is strongest.

8. What are the main pawn breaks in the opening that i am trying to achieve later on or earlier on?

Answer: d5. This is pretty much in every sicilian, rest pretty much depends on the sicilian variation. a6-b5 is also common (except in the dragon, it is too slow).

9. Are there any common knight manuevers? 

Answer: Nd7-c5 or Nf6-d7-c5 in the najdorf. Nxg4 or Nxe4 (tactics) in the dragon. Nc6(d7)-e5 in many.

10. Any other common themes you can think of?

Answer: Rxc3, is the exchange sacrifice. If you can't play such a move, don't play the sicilian. In the dragon, this should be a candidate move when it is legal! a6-b5 and Bb7 to put pressure on e4, especially if white has playued f4. d5 breakthrough is common. For white, Nd5, N(x)e6, Nxb5, Bxb5, Qe1-g3 and other sacrificial moves. Kb1 and Kh1 is often usefull, and my score is definetly higher when I play such moves than when I don't.

11: i have no idea why black would play 2...d6 at all?

Answer: Semi-waiting move. And takes control of the imporant e5 square, and black doesn't know where the knight is best placed, c6 or d7. 

12: What are some of white's ideas in most sicilians?

Mate. In Be2 variations and Maroczy, it is to get a positional game, where the player who understand the position. Often a4 after a6 to prevent or discourage b5, and often is continiues to a5 to create a hole on b6. In the english attack, g4-g5-h4-h5-g6 is quite common. 

13: Any other reccomondations?

Answer: Don't play the sicilian if you don't like theory.

Correct, except that you don't storm him with pawns if you have no other choices. Pawn storms takes time, and since white is already half-finished before you can begin, it's suicide.

im no pro player i only finally worked my way back to a 1000+ rating here on chess.com and i have the sicilian to thank for this long road back, however, i must say that the middle game never leads to the aggressiveness that supposedly the sicilian is supposed to gain for black i find myself playing very defensively, with the entire pawn structure intact (including the c pawn, sometimes i wonder if even the people in my rating range even know how to "play" against the sicilian) and just playing a waiting game untill white blunders or overextends. either way just read up ( or watch up since this is 2014) on the multiple variations, i find that the reality is i always come up somewhere a pawn ahead and when all is said and done thats worth more than gold. also if u play bullet or blitz hold off on your castle and look for the fishing hook via the sicilian had more than a few wins with this...

In John Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings Volume 1, the author gives a 2-3 paragraph argument about white's pluses in the Open Sicilian, space, lead in development, attacks on the kingside, white's semi-open file against black's d-pawn, etc.

In about 2 sentences, John Watson gives why black is usually fine despite all of white's plusses-black has a central majority.

It seems to me the Open Sicilian is about how black will go about to work with his/her central majority (2...d6, 2...e6 or 2...Nc6 most commonly) and how black deals with the myriad of plans and variations white can play against black.

Likely mentioned, but:

"

1. What are the main pawn breaks in the opening that i am trying to achieve later on or earlier on?"

Usually you'll want to play either ...e5 (especially against e4+f4), sometimes even if you already move the pawn to e6.

More common is the thematic ...d5 thrust, usually with a pawn on e6. Sometimes even with an e4/e5 structure to blast through the center with piece activity.  The ...d5 thrust (with e6) can even be played against c4+e4 sometimes!  Just make sure the d5 point has a lot of piece pressure.  You may need to manouver a bit to deflect white's attention from this spot, sometimes while keeping an eye on your own weak points (such as the d5 and b6 squares). 

2. Are there any common knight manuevers? 

Nd7-Nc5 or even Ne5 controls many squares and generates many threats against white. 

3. Any other common themes you can think of?

I mentioned the b6 weakness and punching through the cramp above.  Also, see if you can trade a piece (preferably a knight) for white's kingside pawns if he's throwing them at your king.  You usually can't however.  Be aware of Rxc3 (not just in the dragon) since this knight covers strategically important central squares.  White may also highlight the weak b6 via a4-a5 freezing your queenside pawns in place while also aiming a bishop and sometimes even a knight there. 

Also, major piece endgames are frequent.  Books tend to ignore two rooks and a queen vs. two rooks and a queen (with plenty of pawns on both sides) so maybe strategic endgame books like How to Play Chess Endgames and Endgame Strategy will help here.  BCE mentions queen and rook vs. queen and rook with no pawns, but that's obviously not what you're looking for.  Because of the weak d6 pawn white typically has an advantage in these endings because they can line up against a weak pawn tying black's pieces to the defense of the point. 

Like Estragon said however you just need to look at the specific position and take into account its specifics.