It's gallant and smart embracing demolished rival (9)

I believe the answer is:

chivalric

'it's gallant' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'smart embracing demolished rival' is the wordplay.
'smart' becomes 'chic' (both can mean stylish).
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'demolished' indicates an anagram.
'rival' is an anagram of 'ivalr'.
'chic' placed around 'ivalr' is 'CHIVALRIC'.

'and' is the link.

(Another definition for chivalric that I've seen is " bold".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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