Three second half goals capped an impressive second half performance which sounded out a warning to all the other promotion hopefuls.
Chester had more than held their own for the first hour of the game and had enjoyed several good opportunities themselves. On 13 minutes Gregg Blundell shaped up to shoot on goal but was denied by a fine block by Aaron Wilbraham.
Three minutes later keeper Lee Harper was called into action with a full length dive to palm away Sean Hessey's rasping drive which had been heading for the top corner.
The visitor's front two looked lively throughout, and top scorer Izale McLeod went close when he powered a header just wide of John Danby's left-hand post after 20 minutes.
A wayward back pass across the face of his own penalty area by Hessey almost had his side in trouble, but Danby was alert enough to the danger to clear his lines as McLeod attempted to latch onto the loose ball.
Ten minutes before the break a cleverly lofted ball from Simon Marples gave Blundell a half chance and he snatched at the opportunity which was dragged well wide. Marples then got in the act with a shot from distance which was saved by Harper.
The second half saw the visitors up the tempo and they went ahead on the hour mark after being awarded a penalty when McLeod went down under a challenge in the box from Paul Linwood. The striker took the spot-kick himself and saw his effort parried by Danby, only for Clive Platt to poke the ball home from the rebound.
Chester responded well, and Roberto Martinez rifled an effort on goal which was parried by Harper and Blundell scuffed the follow up shot wide.
And they were left ruing the miss when the visitors went up the other end and added a second on 65 minutes. Paul Butler sent a header goalwards which Danby could only parry into the path of McLeod who tucked the ball in from close range
Victory was sealed on 76 minutes as Jon-Paul McGovern's superbly taken free-kick from the edge of the box beat Danby.
The home side's misery was complete when Linwood received his marching orders after a second booking two minutes from time.