In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 fundamental techniques employed. You must be agile enough to switch strategies quickly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to manage, to barricade in your competitor’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 between your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. i.e., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is now in serious dire straits considering that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have 2 or higher pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least two of your pieces.) It should be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The strongest areas for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjoining points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your competitor is getting their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have other spare checkers to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this case!