[cfdrake]

As somebody looking to get into Scheme a bit, would you recommend Chicken as a good starting point for practical usage?

As a newcomer, there are just so many implementations to choose from, even when I restrict myself to choosing ones that can compile to C. Racket, Chicken, Gambit, Bigloo. They all look good on paper, and all feel the same (to me) when trying them out. What sets Chicken apart from the rest?

(FWIW, my research is leading me towards Chicken, but I've got that nagging voice in my head wondering if it's the right choice)

[klutometis]

Chicken feels like a local optimum of pragmatism and flexibility to me; Racket is larger, to be sure, but somehow overwhelming.