In astonishingly simple terms, there are three main plans employed. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you might achieve, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anyplace between your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.

The Blitz

This is comprised of locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your challenger is now in serious trouble considering that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have 2 or higher pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It would be played when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The best locations for anchors are close to your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for an effective backgame: besides, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break up this right away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you do not have other extra checkers to move! In this case, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position until your opposer gives you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this case!