In astonishingly general terms, there are three main tactics employed. You want to be agile enough to switch game plans quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can manage, to lock in your competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anywhere within your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time trouble because they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at a minimum two of your pieces.) It should be played when you are decidedly behind as this strategy greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchors are near your competitor’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break up this right away, while your challenger is getting their pieces home, considering that you don’t have other spare checkers to shift! In this case, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your opposer gives you a chance to hit, so it will be a wonderful idea to try and get your opposer to get them in this case!