Wouldn't that be an enormous timesink though? You basically have to memorize the dictionary... and then memorize it again but in a more complicated way.
Learning pairs (normal, alphabetical) doesn't take anything like twice as long as just learning the normal word. Our brain is funny with associating things, especially if there is some logic to it like always rearranging the characters in the first word alphabetically.
Getting to the top at almost any activity is a massive timesink. Lot to be said for not being too competitive.