In very general terms, there are three general game plans employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between game plans instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to achieve, to block in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time dire straits since they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least two of your checkers.) It needs to be played when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your opportunities. The strongest locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your competitor is getting their checkers home, considering that you don’t have any other spare pieces to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up till your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a good idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!