1)Can I play with a friend in chessmaster 9000,or can I only play against computer?

2)In a chessmaster 9000 tournament,can I avoid watching other games?They finish very fast of course,but why should I wait and watch computer players playing?

Ask these questions in the UbiSoft chessmaster forums for the best answers.

#1: Yes, if you're both sitting in front of the same computer. Just change the "computer" icon to a "human" icon for both White and Black. CM10 and CM11 allow playing over the Internet but I doubt that's possible in 2008 with CM9. 

#2:  In CM10 & CM11 you can click on a "Quick Result" button instead of the "Play" button during tournaments. I don't remember if that's available in CM9.