In extraordinarily simple terms, there are 3 general strategies employed. You need to be able to hop between game plans quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can manage, to barricade in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable tactic at the start of the match. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time difficulty due to the fact that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or higher checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It should be used when you are extremely behind as it much improves your opportunities. The better areas for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for an effective backgame: after all, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your competitor is moving their pieces home, because you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up till your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a good idea to attempt and get your competitor to hit them in this case!