user18029: I have noticed a tendency of weaker players to move their queen out very early (e.g. move 2-5), and conversely, a tendency for strong players to move their queen much later (usually later than move 5, but often not until move 7/8/9 or even later).
What is the earliest the queen is moved in any strong, modern opening? By strong modern opening I mean only those used by grandmasters in competition under classical time controls (i.e. meaningful competition games, and no blitz/bullet games).

user26071: At the beginning the tendency to bring my queen out early was an urge I failed to control for my first few games. Nevertheless a pretty common opening where the queen is out in the first moves played is in the Scandinavian and the Scholar's Mate, these are two among a couple more openings.
Scholar's Mate (Checkmate Sequence):
[FEN ""]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 Nf6?? 4. Qxf7#

In the Scandinavian Defense, Black meets 1.e4 by immediately putting the question to the e4 pawn, and bringing the queen out with Qxd5, on move two, the Mieses-Kotrč Variation.

user21877: If you're looking for something more common than the Scandanavian, then I think the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian is the most common opening with a queen move on move 4 or earlier:
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2

user12629: The definition is still a bit ambiguous, but here's what I found.
The absolute soonest to move the queen is probably the French Defense: Chigorin Variation which begins with 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2.
The Scandinavian with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 looks like the most common way to move the queen on move 2. I found a game by GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov in 2019 at standard time controls, which ended in a draw.

18029: <p>I have noticed a tendency of weaker players to move their queen out very early (e.g. move 2-5), and conversely, a tendency for strong players to move their queen much later (usually later than move 5, but often not until move 7/8/9 or even later).</p>
<p>What is the earliest the queen is moved in any strong, modern opening? By strong modern opening I mean only those used by grandmasters in competition under classical time controls (i.e. meaningful competition games, and no blitz/bullet games).</p>
 26071: <p>At the beginning the tendency to bring my queen out early was an urge I failed to control for my first few games. Nevertheless a pretty common opening where the queen is out in the first moves played is in the Scandinavian and the Scholar's Mate, these are two among a couple more openings.</p>
<p>Scholar's Mate (Checkmate Sequence):</p>
<pre><code>[FEN &quot;&quot;]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 Nf6?? 4. Qxf7#
</code></pre>
<p>In the Scandinavian Defense, Black meets 1.e4 by immediately putting the question to the e4 pawn, and bringing the queen out with Qxd5, on move two, the Mieses-Kotrč Variation.</p>
 21877: <p>If you're looking for something more common than the Scandanavian, then I think the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian is the most common opening with a queen move on move 4 or earlier:</p>
<p>1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2</p>
 12629: <p>The definition is still a bit ambiguous, but here's what I found.</p>
<p>The absolute soonest to move the queen is probably the French Defense: Chigorin Variation which begins with 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2.</p>
<p>The Scandinavian with 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 looks like the most common way to move the queen on move 2. I found a game by GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov in 2019 at standard time controls, which ended in a draw.</p>
