In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 chief game plans used. You need to be agile enough to hop between techniques instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to block in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate strategy at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your challenger tosses an early two and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious difficulty since they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have 2 or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It would be played when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest areas for anchors are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on adjoining points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for an effective 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 opposer is getting their pieces home, considering that you do not have other spare checkers to shift! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up till your challenger gives you a chance to hit, so it may be a great idea to attempt and get your challenger to get them in this case!