Zeman won with 24.2 percent of the vote. Schwarzenberg, who hails from a centuries-old aristocratic family, had 23.4 percent and is set to face Zeman on Jan. 26.

Former Prime Minister Jan Fischer, a technocrat tainted by a communist past who had been favored over Schwarzenberg, received 16.35 percent.

Social Democrat Senator Jiri Dienstbier - son of the deceased Lidove Noviny founder - finished fourth with 16 percent. Vladimir Franz, a composer covered head to toe in tattoos, fell far short of expectations with just 6.84 percent of the vote.

The vote allowed Czechs to directly choose a president for the first time since achieving statehood in 1993.

Nine candidates vied to replace the climate-change denier and euroskeptic Vaclav Klaus, who declared a broad amnesty on January 1 that set free people sentenced to prison for minor crimes - many of whom happened to be ex-politicians serving time for corruption. Klaus leaves Prague Castle, the official residence of the head of state, on March 7.

mkg/rc (AP)