In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 main plans employed. You must be able to hop between techniques quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to achieve, to lock in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the start of the match. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is then in big-time difficulty since they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or higher checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at least 2 of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are decidedly behind as this strategy much improves your opportunities. The better locations for anchors are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your opponent is getting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it may be a great idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!