Trick nerds can't beat (9)
I believe the answer is:
transcend
'beat' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'trick nerds can't' is the wordplay.
'trick' is an anagram indicator (a tricky version of the letters).
'nerds'+'cant'='nerdscant'
'nerdscant' with letters rearranged gives 'TRANSCEND'.
(Other definitions for transcend that I've seen before include "Surpass (an achievement)" , "exceed?" , "Go beyond, surpass" .)