Is it bad to have bishops besides to one another on d3 and e3?

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Richard_Hunter

I have noticed that in a lot of older games, (from before the 20th century, say), it was quite common to have your Bishops placed besides one another on the d3 and e3 squares. I have seen this arrangement much less often in more modern games, or in engine lines. More typically, Bishops, when next to each other, are arranged vertically along the file, e.g. on e2 and e3, but I've never came across anyone explicitly saying that the horizontal configuration is bad, so I wonder if anyone is able to tell me if there is indeed any problem with it?

cocolove2018
I don’t think there are too many problems with it, but it does keep your queen from moving around in the opening, unless you moved it out previously. Then again, I generally don’t have my bishops in that config, so my answer really isn’t that accurate.
Richard_Hunter

Also, I can't think any common openings that end up with the Bishops together on the 3rd rank, whilst there is the English defence of the Najdorf that results in Bishops along the d file.