In very simple terms, there are three main plans used. You need to be able to hop between strategies almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate tactic at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play six/one 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your opponent is then in serious dire straits because 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 inner board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It should be used when you are significantly behind as this action much improves your chances. The strongest areas for anchors are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your challenger is getting their pieces home, seeing that you do not have other additional checkers to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!