No quarter was given or received. It was a battle to the end.
However, in the end, the best man won. Here is a blow-by-blow account of what happened.
[Event "U.S. Open"] [Site "Alexandria, Virginia"] [Date "1996.08.11"] [Round "07"] [White "Sloan,Sam"] [Black "Wagner,Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2056"] [BlackElo "1820"] 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 Bd7 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Qg3 cxd5 7.Bxd5 Nf6 8.Nc3 Bc6 9.Bf3 g6 10.h4 Nbd7 11.b3 Rc8 12.Bb2 h5 13.Nh3 Bg7 14.Rg1 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 O-O 16.Nf4 Ne5 17.Qg3 Nc6 18.Ncd5 Qd8 19.Nxf6+ exf6 20.Nxh5 Nd4 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.Rd1 Re8 23.e3 Qd5 24.Qg4 Nf3+ 25.Ke2 Nxg1+ 26.Rxg1 Red8 27.Bc3 Qd3+ 28.Ke1 Rxc3 29.dxc3 Qxc3+ 30.Kf1 Rd5 31.Rg3 Qc1+ 32.Kg2 Rd1 33.Qf3 Rg1+ 34.Kh2 Rxg3 35.fxg3 Qd2+ 36.Qg2 Qxe3 37.Qxb7 Qf2+ 38.Qg2 Qc5 39.Qb2 Qd6 40.b4 Kh7 41.b5 g5 42.hxg5 fxg5 43.a4 g4 44.a5 Qh6+ 45.Kg1 Qe3+ 46.Qf2 Qc1+ 47.Kh2 Qh6+ 48.Kg2 Qe6 49.Qc2+ Kg7 50.Qc3+ Kh7 51.Qd3+ Kg7 52.Qd4+ Kh7 53.Qxa7 Qe4+ 54.Kg1 Qe1+ 55.Kg2 Qe4+ 56.Kf1 Qf3+ 57.Qf2 Qd1+ 58.Qe1 Qd3+ 59.Qe2 Qb1+ 60.Kg2 Qf5 1-0