In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 fundamental plans employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between game plans instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to manage, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the game advances.
The Blitz
This is comprised of locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your challenger rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opposer is then in serious difficulty seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at least 2 of your checkers.) It should be used when you are decidedly behind as this strategy greatly improves your circumstances. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to dismantle this right away, while your opponent is getting their checkers home, considering that you don’t have other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position until your opposer provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your opponent to get them in this situation!