In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 general strategies employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between game plans quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to achieve, to block in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable procedure at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is now in big-time trouble considering that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your home board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It would be used when you are significantly behind as this strategy greatly improves your chances. The strongest places for anchors are towards your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots 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 checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up till your challenger gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to get them in this case!