Vie and cheat briefly, desperate to win (7)
I believe the answer is:
achieve
'win' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'vie and cheat briefly desperate' is the wordplay.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'desperate' is an anagram indicator (a desperate or pathetic spelling).
'cheat' with its final letter taken off is 'chea'.
'vie' put after 'chea' is 'cheavie'.
'cheavie' anagrammed gives 'ACHIEVE'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for achieve that I've seen before include "'Accomplish, attain (7)'" , "Gain or reach by effort" , "Skilfully bring about" , "wrap up" , "Attain successfully" .)