In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 basic techniques employed. You must be agile enough to switch techniques almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can manage, to barricade in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the game. You can assemble the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your opposer rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious difficulty seeing that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your checkers.) It should be played when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your opportunities. The best places for anchors are close to your opponent’s smaller points and also on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is integral for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two 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 challenger is getting their pieces home, taking into account that you do not have any other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!
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