The match, which passed an early morning pitch inspection after several days of rainfall, had been billed as one of the biggest since Inverness entered the Premier League last season. And the pressure was on Aberdeen to ensure they maintained their unbeaten record against the Highlanders.
The first chance came when Ferne Snoyl tried a low 30-yarder but it flashed wide. Inverness's Mark Brown then prevented Stevie Crawford from scoring from an acute angle as the forward latched on to a cross from Jamie Smith, who was set free by a Scott Severin free-kick.
In reply to a lively Dons start, Dennis Wyness shot just over the top from a Richie Hart assist. Then Wyness stole the ball from Kevin McNaughton and swerved a drive over the crossbar. Hart also tried his luck from distance, but his shot finished in the South Stand.
Alexr Diamond came to Aberdeen's rescue when his sliding challenge after 30 minutes stopped Craig Dargo netting after a delightful lobbed pass to him from Hart.
The final chance of the first half came when Dutch ace Snoyl just failed to connect with a Chris Clark cross from eight yards.
The visitors began the restart brightly, and Crawford went close from a Clark delivery. Brown then did well to touch a net-bound Jamie Smith free-kick around the post.
The former Rangers keeper was called into action again after 68 minutes when he positioned himself well to hold a pile-driver from Severin.
The decisive point came with just seven minutes to go when a mix-up at the back between Brown and Grant Munro allowed Steve Lovell to steal in and lob the ball high into the empty net.
In the three-way battle for sixth place before the league divides, Aberdeen host Hibs on Saturday, Inverness travel to bottom side Livingston while Motherwell are off to face Rangers at Ibrox.