user4527: Ok, I know this will be a vague question... I recently played against a friend three games, and lost all of them, and the problem was that he played his queen very early in the game (second move). I was told that this isn't a very good strategy, but the truth is that I lost...
Can somebody give me the main themes for a early queen, and how to respond?

user5714: If your opponent played his queen on the second move, the game probably resembles this:

e4 e5
Qh5?!

Now you can just develop your knight

... Nc6

If he chooses to continue calmly, you can follow up with Nf6, and his queen is already forced to move. So probably he will continue like so:

Bc4 

Now you need to resolve the threat, after which you can simply continue your development with a small advantage. For example:

... g6
Qf3 Nf6

And here most players would prefer to play black, so we can conclude that white lost his opening advantage by wasting time.

user17: The queen is a very powerful piece. If she moves, she's probably attacking something.
Make sure that if your friend attacks something with his queen, you defend (or move) it. Not doing so and letting the queen take your piece (without being recaptured) is a good way to lose. 
If the queen keeps moving, and you keep defending, pretty soon you'll have everything defended, and the queen will have nothing left to attack. You'll be ahead in development, and have the advantage.

user2967: To some good answers I'll add this minor "psychological" point.  Faced with rapid Queen development, one may feel pressured to strike back in a big way--to counterattack, or to trap the Queen.  These attempts at dramatic "payback" usually end in giant frustration.  The key against early Queen deployment is to be satisfied with small gains.  Protect that weak f-square or central pawn.  Defend against any bishop pins that the opponent may use in conjunction with the Queen's moves.  Anticipate forks (checks with attacks on weak squares such as b-pawns), and resolutely hold everything together.  Weather the storm, bide your time, and before too long your superior development of minor pieces and better control of space will mean that either you can trap the Queen or, more likely, cause her to turn tail and flee, leaving you with a better position.

user5702: Although I don't know exactly what moves your opponent used, in the beginner ranks sometimes people use Scholar's Mate as an attempted opening.  It involves getting the queen out and parading her around the board for an attack and possible mate on f7.
The basic counterstrategy for a Scholar's Mate type opening from White is to keep protecting f7 for Black, and then to take swipes at the opponent's queen while developing your minor pieces.  If you do this patiently without giving up any tactical moves, you can get all your pieces awake and developed, while your opponent's pieces remain asleep at home.

user70: It is true (per @dfan) that bringing the Queen out early invites attack and wastes the Queen-mover's time. In more advanced play, this is very very bad.
But for beginners, it doesn't matter a bit. Beginners waste moves all the time. It's simply part of (and perhaps the definition of) a beginner. Chances are, you won't know exactly how to exploit the premature Queen even if you chase her around with piece development.
On the other side, move your Queen early and see what happens. Play daring, play dashing, take chances, have fun, and cut some heads.  You'll score a lot of wins by being aggressive. And you'll get your head cut some, too. /shrug
Against better opponents, this will not work as well and you'll have to up your game.

user291: The main issue with developing your queen early is that it is a very valuable piece, so pretty much any time your opponent threatens to take it, he is threatening to win material. (Contrast with developing your knights, say; if your opponent threatens to take it, unless he's threatening to take with a pawn, he is often just really offering an equal exchange.)
The best way to take advantage of your opponent's early queen development is to exploit this by attacking it while developing your own pieces. If you can combine development with attacking the queen this way, you'll get all your pieces onto useful squares while he wastes time moving his queen around, and you'll be in much better position to do something in the middlegame.
A simple example of this is 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing the knight while attacking the queen.

4527: <p>Ok, I know this will be a vague question... I recently played against a friend three games, and lost all of them, and the problem was that he played his queen very early in the game (second move). I was told that this isn't a very good strategy, but the truth is that I lost...</p>

<p>Can somebody give me the main themes for a early queen, and how to respond?</p>
 5714: <p>If your opponent played his queen on the second move, the game probably resembles this:</p>

<ol>
<li>e4 e5</li>
<li>Qh5?!</li>
</ol>

<p>Now you can just develop your knight</p>

<ol start="2">
<li>... Nc6</li>
</ol>

<p>If he chooses to continue calmly, you can follow up with Nf6, and his queen is already forced to move. So probably he will continue like so:</p>

<ol start="3">
<li>Bc4 </li>
</ol>

<p>Now you need to resolve the threat, after which you can simply continue your development with a small advantage. For example:</p>

<ol start="3">
<li>... g6</li>
<li>Qf3 Nf6</li>
</ol>

<p>And here most players would prefer to play black, so we can conclude that white lost his opening advantage by wasting time.</p>
 17: <p>The queen is a very powerful piece. If she moves, she's probably attacking something.</p>

<p>Make sure that if your friend attacks something with his queen, you defend (or move) it. Not doing so and letting the queen take your piece (without being recaptured) is a good way to lose. </p>

<p>If the queen keeps moving, and you keep defending, pretty soon you'll have everything defended, and the queen will have nothing left to attack. You'll be ahead in development, and have the advantage.</p>
 2967: <p>To some good answers I'll add this minor "psychological" point.  Faced with rapid Queen development, one may feel pressured to strike back in a big way--to counterattack, or to trap the Queen.  These attempts at dramatic "payback" usually end in giant frustration.  The key against early Queen deployment is to be satisfied with small gains.  Protect that weak f-square or central pawn.  Defend against any bishop pins that the opponent may use in conjunction with the Queen's moves.  Anticipate forks (checks with attacks on weak squares such as b-pawns), and resolutely hold everything together.  Weather the storm, bide your time, and before too long your superior development of minor pieces and better control of space will mean that either you can trap the Queen or, more likely, cause her to turn tail and flee, leaving you with a better position.</p>
 5702: <p>Although I don't know exactly what moves your opponent used, in the beginner ranks sometimes people use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholar%27s_mate" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Scholar's Mate</a> as an attempted opening.  It involves getting the queen out and parading her around the board for an attack and possible mate on f7.</p>
<p>The basic counterstrategy for a Scholar's Mate type opening from White is to keep protecting f7 for Black, and then to take swipes at the opponent's queen while developing your minor pieces.  If you do this patiently without giving up any tactical moves, you can get all your pieces awake and developed, while your opponent's pieces remain asleep at home.</p>
 70: <p>It is true (per @dfan) that bringing the Queen out early invites attack and wastes the Queen-mover's time. In more advanced play, this is very very bad.</p>

<p>But for beginners, it doesn't matter a bit. Beginners waste moves all the time. It's simply part of (and perhaps the definition of) a beginner. Chances are, you won't know exactly how to exploit the premature Queen even if you chase her around with piece development.</p>

<p>On the other side, move your Queen early and see what happens. Play daring, play dashing, take chances, have fun, and cut some heads.  You'll score a lot of wins by being aggressive. And you'll get your head cut some, too. /shrug</p>

<p>Against better opponents, this will not work as well and you'll have to up your game.</p>
 291: <p>The main issue with developing your queen early is that it is a very valuable piece, so pretty much any time your opponent threatens to take it, he is threatening to win material. (Contrast with developing your knights, say; if your opponent threatens to take it, unless he's threatening to take with a pawn, he is often just really offering an equal exchange.)</p>

<p>The best way to take advantage of your opponent's early queen development is to exploit this by attacking it while developing your own pieces. If you can combine development with attacking the queen this way, you'll get all your pieces onto useful squares while he wastes time moving his queen around, and you'll be in much better position to do something in the middlegame.</p>

<p>A simple example of this is 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing the knight while attacking the queen.</p>
