In very simple terms, there are three chief strategies employed. You need to be able to hop between strategies almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you might manage, to lock in the competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate strategy at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game advances.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your opponent tosses an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your competitor is then in serious trouble seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least two of your checkers.) It would be played when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The better areas for anchor spots are near your competitor’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, taking into account that you do not have other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your competitor to get them in this situation!