In very general terms, there are three basic plans employed. You want to be able to hop between strategies instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you can manage, to barricade in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. For example, if your opposer rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is now in big-time difficulty because they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be used when you are significantly behind as this action greatly improves your chances. The strongest locations for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: after all, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this right away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, considering that you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this case, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!