In this paper we consider the classical Erdos-Renyi model of random graphs G(n,p). We show that for p = p(n) <= n(-3/4-delta), for any fixed delta > 0, the chromatic number chi(G(n,p)) is a.a.s. l, l + 1, or l + 2, where l is the maximum integer satisfying 2(l - 1) log(l - 1) <= p(n - 1). (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.