Yoda vs. Sidious

The Revenge of the Sith novel seems to indicate that Yoda loses to Palpatine because the Sith had developed new ways of harnessing the Force for destructive ends which Yoda was not prepared for. But one wonders exactly what these "new" techniques are. If Force lightning counts as "new" I think Yoda has on several occasions showed that he can easily block, deflect and even quell Sith lightning with his bare hands. Dooku, for one, did not stand a chance against him. This is made even more emphatic in the Clone Wars novel "Dark Rendezvous." In any given day, at any given chance, whether he plays fair or foul Dooku cannot win against Yoda. If Dooku is no match for Yoda, I do not see why General Grievous can do better. I am supposing Grievous is inferior to Dooku in all respects, including sabre-fighting. And is Grievous even a Force-sensitive? Lucas' opinion is just that - an opinion. It may come from a more authoritative source but it is just his view and his view may change. Many creators of fictional fantasy characters change their views on their characters and their views are always variable and in transit. J.K. Rowling is an example: how many times has she changed her mind on her characters? Or Tolkien for that matter. We observe many editions to his work and many new reflections on his creations in his Letters and posthumous publications. In settling the Palpatine versus Yoda issue ask: what is Palpatine's greatest weapon and does Yoda stand a chance against this? Palpatine's greatest offensive maneuver is certainly Force lightning and Yoda is simply not affected by it. As for sabre-dual: if Mace Windu can best Palpatine or at least stand his ground, there is no good reason why Yoda cannot do better. Unless one is claiming that Windu is a better sabre-fighter than Yoda?

Yoda

Guys..

Your forgetting that Yoda says to Luke in Empire Strikes Back that the dark side is not stronger, only quicker and easier. Yoda had lived centuries longer than Palpatine and mastered the light side, whereas Palpatine, though very talented, had followed the dark side and gained his power quicker.

At the end of the day Yoda was fighting defensively, just like Kenobi vs Anakin, letting the sith go nuts and on the attack - whilst staying calm and letting the force floooow though him!

Hehe, so yeah in the end as you can see Yoda gets the upper hand and is only bested by fate (falling and getting injured)