It could be possible to go lower than 296. You create an account with 296 rating, by resigning a lot of games. Then you create another account and make it 296. Than you play from one account against another, so you can go to some number like 100. Then you do the same, and you get another account with 100 rating points. You throw together both 100-rated accounts, and get negative rating! :)
But this is impossible for two reasons:
1. You will be faster marked for artificial decreasing your rating.
2. After getting to ~770 you stop to lose your rating points, even if you play against another 770 rated player.
But this is impossible for two reasons:
1. You will be faster marked for artificial decreasing your rating.
2. After getting to ~770 you stop to lose your rating points, even if you play against another 770 rated player.