In extraordinarily simple terms, there are 3 chief techniques employed. You want to be able to hop between tactics quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious trouble since they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It would be played when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest places for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for an effective backgame: after all, there is no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this straight away, while your challenger is getting their checkers home, owing to the fact that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your challenger to get them in this situation!