In astonishingly simple terms, there are three fundamental strategies employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to barricade in the competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is now in serious trouble due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as it much improves your opportunities. The best locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is integral for an effectual backgame: after all, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your challenger is moving their pieces home, considering that you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this case, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a great idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!