In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 chief plans employed. You need to be able to hop between techniques quickly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can manage, to block in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable procedure at the start of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your competitor is then in big-time calamity since they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point occupied by at least two of your pieces.) It must be played when you are extremely behind as this plan greatly improves your opportunities. The best locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with a single point in between. Timing is crucial for a competent backgame: after all, there is no point having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your opposer is shifting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position until your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this case!