In very general terms, there are three fundamental plans employed. You want to be able to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you are able to manage, to block in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate procedure at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game continues.

The Blitz

This is composed of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is then in serious dire straits because they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your home board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at least two of your checkers.) It would be used when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is crucial for an effectual backgame: besides, there’s no point having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to dismantle this right away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you don’t have other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your competitor to get them in this case!