In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 general plans used. You want to be agile enough to switch tactics almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you might manage, to block in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anywhere between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your challenger tosses an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you are able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your competitor is now in serious calamity seeing that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It must be used when you are significantly behind as this strategy much improves your opportunities. The strongest areas for anchors are near your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is important for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this straight away, while your challenger is moving their checkers home, because you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to get them in this situation!
