In astonishingly general terms, there are three chief game plans used. You want to be agile enough to hop between game plans quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you can manage, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the start of the game. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious difficulty seeing that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It must be played when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your chances. The best places for anchors are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: after all, there is no reason having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have any other extra checkers to shift! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position until your competitor gives you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a good idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!