In exceptionally general terms, there are three basic strategies used. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you might manage, to block in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable course of action at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your challenger rolls an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is now in serious difficulty taking into account that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point filled by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are significantly behind as it much improves your opportunities. The better places for anchors are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point in between. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: besides, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, considering that you don’t have other additional pieces to move! In this situation, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a great idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this case!
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