Is there an announcement and/or release notes for this release?
Will this release solve the issues with the competition template?
Can the competition mode be controlled without additional hardware?

With version 1.97 there is a new feature to control the mode of your robot with the RobotC debugger. It's like a software version of the competition switch. That way, you don't have to have additional hardware to run your robot. After you start the debugger, one of the debugger windows that you can select is the competition switch. It will allow you to disable your robot, set it in autonomous mode, or driver control mode.

Not sure what else was done with 1.97.