Any secret reason for so many Bishop's Openings?

After e4 e5 seems like every third or fourth game I meet continues 2 Bc4. Sure, it is a respectable okay choice, but that must be ten times its frequency in OTB tournament or club play. And as far as I can see [not far, no statistics, merely memory and impression] it has no more success than other e4 openings, Spanish, Scotch, even King's Gambit or Evans Gambit, or whatever.
So why is it played so often? Do people simply like it, for some reason unknown to me? Tell me the secret, Bishop players. Or maybe you rather not reveal your motivation. Well, that's okay. Because I am doing fairly well against it.

I don't think this is secret, but in Jan Gustafsson's, 1...e5 course, he says:

"This move mainly exists as a device to avoid the Petroff, used by white players that are fine going for the Italian, but not the lines after 2. Nf3 Nf6. As we are 2... Nc6 guys here and willing to enter the Italian anyway, 2. Bc4 is not that big a deal for us and we will just blatantly offer transpositions. There are some independent lines, however, which we should take a look at."

Not a secret I guess, but not in my field of vision. I don't know Jan Gustafsson or his "... e5 course" Where is that found? Also, I find it strange that people would go around elbow to get to thumb to avoid Petroff. Easier to learn some Petroff, no?
By the way, @scarpentus, I am a great fan of your comments, insightful, on point, and abrupt when the need arises.

Ah! More context would have been helpful. Jan worked on Magnus's team for at least two of his world championship matches and this is his chessable course:

https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-gustafssons-1e4-e5/course/28860/

I was lucky to start using that early on and I enjoy playing most of those lines.

Thank you for your kind words! Right back at you. :high-five: :-)

Avoiding the Petrov is a valid reason.
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 Nc6 4 Nf3 transposes to the Italian.
The Petrov is not that scary by itself, but black players who play Petrov usually have more experience with it than white players.

@sparowe14 said in #1:

After e4 e5 seems like every third or fourth game I meet continues 2 Bc4. Sure, it is a respectable okay choice, but that must be ten times its frequency in OTB tournament or club play. And as far as I can see [not far, no statistics, merely memory and impression] it has no more success than other e4 openings, Spanish, Scotch, even King's Gambit or Evans Gambit, or whatever.
So why is it played so often? Do people simply like it, for some reason unknown to me? Tell me the secret, Bishop players. Or maybe you rather not reveal your motivation. Well, that's okay. Because I am doing fairly well against it.

From my perspective - I'm not primarily an e4 player, but I like to play anything. If I'm throwing e4 on a random day, and if my opponent doesn't steer the game somewhere weird with 1. d5 or whatever, then 2. Bc4 is a good way to start putting pressure on a weak spot and is never a bad move on the whole, plus it keeps ALOT of options open. Also, I can almost premove it, so that saves me 1.8 seconds on the clock. And I can still play Bc4 if 1. c5 is the move, and even against 1. Nf6 it's not so terrible.

By options I mean, if I played 2. Nf3 then I couldn't play f4 anymore (which I also do, sometimes, especially against 1. c5). And I use the same opening pattern (e4 - Bc4) for crazyhouse, and in crazyhouse I can always sac on f7 at ANY GIVEN TIME if I wanna do that, so that's nice.

Really the only things I avoid playing 2. Bc4 against are 1. d5 and 1. e6 or c6.

To be clear, I only do this online - OTB I just never play 1. e4.

tldr - As white you can kinda pre-move 2. Bc4 and it works against most things Black does

"Milan or Madrid, as long as it's Italy".

PS: Dafuq? Wut? @tpr posting? Hell yeah!

Avoid the Petroff? I guess, but I don't see why.

Perhaps they are hoping to see if you fall for a Scholar's mate, but are being crafty by not moving the queen first, thereby ... oh, never mind.

:)

@sparowe14 said in #1:

After e4 e5 seems like every third or fourth game I meet continues 2 Bc4.

At your rating level, 2. Bc4 is only played 11% of the time and your opponents have also only played it 11% of the time. You're probably just noticing it more so it seems like it's played more than it actually is.

Sure, it is a respectable okay choice, but that must be ten times its frequency in OTB tournament or club play.

Probably because people who play OTB are more serious players so they usually play more serious openings (not that 2. Bc4 is bad, like you said).

And as far as I can see [not far, no statistics, merely memory and impression] it has no more success than other e4 openings, Spanish, Scotch, even King's Gambit or Evans Gambit, or whatever.

That does appear to be the case. Actually, the most successful opening at your rating level is the King's Gambit.

@AsDaGo Thanks for the numbers. I noticed that about the Kings Gambit. I play it and often win,, mostly because Black players have not even the basic idea of defense, and I have at least a vague idea of how to back it up.