In very simple terms, there are 3 fundamental plans employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you might achieve, to barricade in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable tactic at the start of the game. You can create the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. i.e., if your opponent rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is now in serious dire straits seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or higher checkers in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at least 2 of your pieces.) It would be employed when you are extremely behind as this action much improves your chances. The strongest areas for anchor spots are near your competitor’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is essential for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, taking into account that you don’t have other additional pieces to shift! In this situation, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up until your competitor provides you a chance to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!