Why is the Bishop's Opening not very popular?

I notice that in the database 2.Bc4 has the highest White winning percentage of the e4 e5 openings. Granted, 2.Nf3 has a better win + draw percentage for White… still, does the Bc4 data originate from a mostly outdated period, or why is the Bishop's Opening not more commonly seen now?

So you're saying most of the wins/tactical battles in the data came from a time period before GMs had it all figured out?

Urk is right about an early tactical battle tending to lead to an early draw, but that tends to be true with any e-pawn opening, in contrast to d-pawn openings. A tiny drawback with 2. Bc4 is that it doesn't immediately attack anything, which 2. Nf3 does, therefore the Bishop's Opening lacks some initiative, and consequently allows Black to equalize more easily than he could with more favored openings. It also invites a tempo loss by the bishop being chased off with ...d5 or ...b5.

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(p. 3)
BISHOP'S OPENING: 1 P-K4 P-K4 2 B-B4

THIS very ancient opening, which
has a history of some 500 years,
is rarely adopted nowadays, as
Black equalizes without trouble.

Estrin, Y., and V. N. Panov. 1980. Comprehensive Chess Openings, Volume 1: Open Games. Elmsford, New York: Pergamon Press.

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(p. 119)
CHAPTER
7
Sturdy King
Pawn Openings

FOR MANY NOVICES, THE OPENING MOVES constitute something of a
mystery. Why, for example, after 1. e4 c5 (the Sicilian Defense) does White
play 2. Nf3 rather than, say, 2. Bc4? We think of the hundreds of books on
Sicilian opening variations and then tend to decide that 2. Bc4 has some
specific flaw. Perhaps the threat of ... e7-e6 and ... d7-d5, forcing White to
move his Bishop and thereby to lose a tempo, is the reason we rarely see
2. Bc4 played.
In truth, however, opening moves are based on definite ideas, which
are usually there even if not often obvious. In the case of 2. Bc4 in the
Sicilian, there is no specific flaw, no killer refutation; this early Bishop
move simply doesn't conform to the principles of sound opening play--
principles that you will learn to appreciate in this chapter.
The two most common moves for starting a game are 1. e4 (which we
recommend for beginning and intermediate players) and 1. d4. Although
many top players have strong ideas about which of these moves is better
for them personally, relatively few have fixed opinions as to which of the
moves in stronger intrinsically.
The prevailing view is that 1. e4 and 1. d4 are for all practical purposes
of equal strength. In the whole of chess history there is no instance where
the loss of a game has been objectively traced back to someone having
played 1. e4 e5 or 1. d4 d5--or, for that matter, to several other possible
first moves by White and Black.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A MOVE MAKES

Although the purpose behind 1. e4 and 1. d4 is about the same (to grab
the center with, if possible, an immediate 2. d4 or 2. e4), the play that later
develops from these two moves is quite dissimilar.
With 1. e4, White opens up the Queen on the d1-h5 diagonal and lib-
erates the King Bishop to go to c4, where it can attack f7 and, potentially,
the Black King. Games that develop from 1. e4 may proceed very quickly
to a conclusion. If Black, for example, plays inaccurately, he may lose in
(p. 120)
only a few moves. On the other hand, sometimes you can make several
poor moves in Queen pawn openings and still fight for a long time. (Of
course, against a strong opponent, you will lose just as certainly.)
A mistaken attitude among many beginning and intermediate players
is that holding on for a large number of moves is in itself a sign of
progress. Untrue. A player could lose in 25 moves as Black against 1. e4
and put up a stronger fight than someone who loses prosaically and sim-
ply in 60 moves as Black against 1. d4.
Bobby Fischer is certainly the greatest player among those who are
very strong advocates of 1. e4. "Best by test," he wrote in his My 60 Memo-
rable Games. In his career, Fischer used 1. e4 to produce straightforward
attacking and positional chess that brought him numerous speedy victo-
ries against even world championship level opponents.
The downside to 1. e4 is that it frequently brings a game to a crisis
point too early from White's viewpoint. Black finds the single defense that
permits a tradeoff of pieces, and a draw ensues. The advantage of 1. d4 is
that it puts off decisive action until more pieces enter the position actively,
thereby making accurate defense more intricate and difficult.

Alburt, Lev, and Larry Parr. 1997. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters, Volume 2: Beyond the Basics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Thanks for the info, folks. I think I did realize the general ideas about it not threatening something as immediately as the Ruy Lopez, thus allowing easier equalization etc.; I just wondered why the statistics show so good for it in the database, unless all those wins came from the time of the 'romantic' games which modern GMs know how to refute.

Or in other words, if it *still* wins 41% of the time, why wouldn't more people play it? 

I don't know, but there are several standard reasons database popularity statistics do not tell the full story:

(1) It has been refuted. (Not true in this case, to my knowledge.)

(2) It is used as surprise value, which gives advantage to the side springing the surprise.

(3) There aren't enough games with that opening in the database to reduce the variance of the outcome statistics.

(4) There exist a lot of offshoot variations that people play that throw off the statistics of the main line early on.

(5) The database entries consist of a lot of nonmaster games.

(6) As you mentioned, it's a matter of popularity, and the opening is merely out of style, so the data is old.

I think it is not popular because there is really no pressure exerted on the center. And more likely than usual Black can play c6-d5, because he didnt have to actually make a concession by blocking his c-pawn with Nc6.

More likely than usual, is that even a thing. Lol.

 If you like the Bishops opening however, I would suggest you to transpose into a Vienna instead with Nc3+Bc4, leaving the f-pawn unblocked to later play f4.

Even tho this is not a Bc4 Vienna, it was wild!

It really depends on how White feels about 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6.

During the time period in question for when the 41% winning statistic was established, the exploitation of time and space advantages in the opening were not well established techniques.  Also those techniques today are strengthened by variations that  are well known continuations in the opening to GMs.  The move 2.Bc4 is a signal to the Black army to use the techniques against a prematurely developed piece.  To exploit tempii loss against the B, while simultaneously  gaining tempii for the  Black pieces are standard  tools in a GMs tool kit.

Not to belabor the point, but even novices to chess know  that in most cases the White Ns belong on f3 and c3.  The f1 B could depending on  Black's responses belong on any of  the squares from f1 to a6.   

Nf3 is a better finnese. Forcing Black to make a concession.

Rooks are like long range artillery.  They attack the enemy position along open files and half open files with a pawn lever to gain control of the  7th and 8th ranks.  Rooks are kept on the back rank mostly to prevent losing the Exchange for an enemy B or N.  Bishops are also mostly used as long range artillery along diagonals.  They are excellent at hemming in enemy  pawns  and Ns.  Why  expose them to  attack from those enemy pawns and  Ns by placing them  on squares where they will be engaging in close quarter fighting.  That exposes the Bs to being exchanged for enemy Ns and losing the Minor Exchange.  There are always  exceptions.  For example after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bb5.  The underlying  reason for the move 3.Bb5 is because it restrains (hems in) Black's d pawn at d7.  It is very important for Black to be able to make the move ...d6 or ...d5 at the appropriate moment.   This is an example of a close quarter hemming in of an  enemy  pawn by a B. 

Another point has to do with keeping the initiative (the offense).  2.Bc4 is White's first step to relinquishing the initiative.

broooo it was so easy to ''win''