In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 basic strategies employed. You need to be able to hop between tactics quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable tactic at the start of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is now in serious trouble considering that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are significantly behind as this action greatly improves your chances. The better places for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s smaller points and also on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral 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 inner 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 any other additional pieces to shift! In this case, it’s more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your competitor 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!
February 5th, 2020
Lee
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