CREATE TABLE Abc(letter char(1), position int)
INSERT INTO Abc (letter, position) VALUES ('a', 1)
INSERT INTO Abc (letter, position) VALUES ('b', 2)
INSERT INTO Abc (letter, position) VALUES ('d', 4)
INSERT INTO Abc (letter, position) VALUES ('j', 10)
INSERT INTO Abc (letter, position) VALUES ('z', 26)

SELECT COUNT(*) AS rank, a1.letter
FROM Abc a1
JOIN Abc a2 ON a1.letter > a2.letter
GROUP BY a1.letter