In very general terms, there are 3 chief techniques used. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can achieve, to barricade in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable strategy at the start of the match. You can create the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious difficulty since they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at least two of your checkers.) It needs to be played when you are significantly behind as this action much improves your opportunities. The better areas for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with a single point in between. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, considering that you don’t have other extra pieces to move! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!