In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 chief plans employed. You need to be agile enough to switch game plans almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to barricade in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. For example, if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you are able to play six/one 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is then in big-time dire straits seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or more pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point filled by at least two of your checkers.) It would be played when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest areas for anchors are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is crucial for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your challenger is getting their checkers home, considering that you do not have any other extra checkers to shift! In this case, it is more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!
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