In astonishingly general terms, there are three main techniques employed. You must be agile enough to switch strategies quickly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is comprised of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to block in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This is comprised of locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your challenger tosses an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious trouble due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have 2 or more checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as this strategy greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest locations for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: besides, there is no point having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this straight away, while your opposer is moving their pieces home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other extra checkers to shift! In this situation, it is more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it may be a good idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!