In extraordinarily general terms, there are three main tactics employed. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to lock in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate course of action at the begining of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. For example, if your opposer tosses an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you are able to play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your opposer is now in serious dire straits due to the fact that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It would be employed when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The better locations for anchors are close to your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with one point separating them. Timing is essential for a competent backgame: after all, there is no reason having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!
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