Siphiwe Tshabalala of Chiefs and Thabo Matlaba of Pirates at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Lehlohonolo Majoro netted in the 40th minute albeit through an offside unspotted by referee Victor Gomes, as last season's double winners clinched their second successive pre-season trophy.
Despite the victory, Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter had mixed feelings on the performance, spotting a lot of room for improvement ahead of their Premiership opener against Mpumalanga Black Aces next Saturday.
"Win, lose or draw this match, we still have a lot of work to do before we start the season. I was disappointed with the way we played at times," said Baxter.
"The principles of play, when we do them well, we look a good team. When we get either a bit too self-confident, or nervous, then we look a bit iffy."
"I will take the win and happy supporters. I will take that much rather than heading to the season having lost 2-0 to your greatest rivals," he said.
In contrast, Pirates' lacklustre form has carried on from the second half of last season as coach Roger de Sa tried to find a winning formula.
The dethroned Pirates — twice previous winners of the "Beer Cup" — will head to their second Group A Caf Champions League tie against Egypian giants Al Ahly, in Cairo this weekend.
They were disappointingly held to a 0-0 draw at home by Congo-Brazaville's AC Leopards, easily the weakest side in their group, last week.
"We are obviously disappointed," said De Sa. "There are a couple of areas that we need to work on, like finishing. We go 90 minutes without scoring a goal. But now we go to Egypt which is a tough ask." – Sapa