Their scrappy 1-0 success against the basement battling Wanderers also earned Avram Grant his first league win since taking over the reins from Jose Mourinho last month.
But they certainly had to work for the points, awarded to them by Salomon Kalou's 41st minute strike, as Bolton played the game in confident mood.
Home manager Sammy Lee is trying his best to play more football in the midst of his stuttering Reebok revolution.
But this had all the hallmarks of a performance of which old boss Sam Allardyce would have been proud.
Captain for the day Kevin Davies was instrumental in upsetting Chelsea's backline with challenges, runs and the odd shot.
He rattled Ashley Cole's cage early on with a robust challenge on the touchline that had the England full-back complaining to referee Alan Wiley.
Davies was wearing the Bolton armband in the absence of regular captain Kevin Nolan, who was dropped from the 16 along with vice-captain Gary Speed.
It was a brave decision from Lee and one that ultimately didn't pay off for him as Kalou took the points back to Stamford Bridge after one lapse in concentration.
Kalou pounced in the closing stages of the first half when Bolton defender Andy O'Brien got the final touch on a long ball from goalkeeper Petr Cech.
The Ivorian striker then lobbed an oncoming Jussi Jaaskelainen before latching back onto the ball just outside the right edge of the six-yard box.
He still had Abdoulaye Meite for company, but held him off to drive home into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
Again Bolton pressed in the second half as Chelsea were content to defend their slender lead.
Davies continued to act as the focal point, attacking well down the right side.
On-loan Liverpool midfielder Danny Guthrie also impressed with a lung bursting performance from the heart of midfield.
But Bolton couldn't break through, despite a late Stelios Giannakopoulos header that went just over.
Their unbeaten five-game run came to an end and Chelsea just held on for an unconvincing success.