In astonishingly simple terms, there are three general plans used. You must be agile enough to switch game plans quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you can manage, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger 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 roll a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is now in big-time difficulty seeing that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or higher pieces in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It would be played when you are significantly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The best areas for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, because you don’t have any other extra pieces to shift! In this situation, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can maintain your position up till your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this case!