There was a worrying moment in the opening stages for Chelsea when Diawara headed on a long throw, and Ricketts was only inches from connecting.
Then after 16 minutes Jussi Jaaskelainen flapped at Morris' cross and the ball fell to Frank Lampard just next to the penalty spot.
He seemed to hesitate a fraction of a second, and when he did shoot Jaaskelainen had recovered and pulled off an excellent save.
The game began to open up, and when Lampard went down in the Bolton area challenging for Gudjohnsen's chipped pass, referee Jeff Winter, who was close to the incident, waved away appeals for a spot-kick.
The goal served to fire Bolton up, and Pedersen had a shot cleared off the line by Terry.
Chelsea could not clear their lines completely and when the ball broke to Ricketts on the edge of the box he kept his head, ignored Marcel Desailly's desperate lunge and slipped the ball past Carlo Cudicini into the net for the coolest of finishes.
Graeme Le Saux hit a low ball from the left; Morris ran over it, and Forssell struck a left-footed shot which sneaked past Jaaskelainen for his first league goal this season.
Bolton's equaliser came with 11 minutes remaining.
A long ball into the Chelsea area was headed out by Terry to the feet of Nolan. No one closed the midfielder down and he had time to pick his spot and shoot low into the corner.
There was last-minute panic in Bolton's box after an incredible goalmouth scramble saw Terry's shot cleared off the line by Simon Charlton and Desailly's header narrow miss the target.
A gutsy Chelsea performance saw them earn a good away point.
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