In astonishingly general terms, there are three basic techniques employed. You must be agile enough to switch techniques almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you might manage, to barricade in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your opposer rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opposer is then in big-time dire straits seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are extremely behind as this strategy much improves your opportunities. The better locations for anchors are towards your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for a competent backgame: after all, there is no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, seeing that you do not have any other additional checkers to shift! In this situation, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your competitor to get them in this case!