In very general terms, there are 3 fundamental plans employed. You need to be agile enough to switch techniques almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to manage, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play six/one 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time trouble due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are extremely behind as this plan much improves your circumstances. The best locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is integral for an effectual backgame: after all, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your competitor is moving their pieces home, seeing that you do not have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your competitor provides you a chance to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to try and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!
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