In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 main plans used. You want to be able to hop between techniques quickly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to lock in your opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate course of action at the start of the match. You can assemble the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your opponent tosses an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play six/one 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opposer is then in serious dire straits because they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point occupied by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are decidedly behind as this plan greatly improves your circumstances. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have other extra pieces to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!
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